No fewer than seven individuals lost their lives and a significant number are missing following a vessel transporting approximately two hundred people seeking to enter European shores capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to Jinack in the North Bank area and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the sunken boat that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU.
Close to 47,000 individuals reached the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search-and-rescue operation, using multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defense officials reported.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants trying to reach the EU, often on hazardous voyages over water and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with several Maghreb states with the goal of reducing illegal migration.
