At least seven souls have perished and a significant number remain unaccounted for following a craft ferrying approximately 200 migrants seeking to enter Europe capsized near the shoreline of Gambia, officials state.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was subsequently discovered "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 those still missing who were aboard the capsized craft that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canaries in the year 2024 and data indicates over nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy launched a rescue mission, deploying several naval vessels and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven individuals who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is a common pathway utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has reached agreements with a number of North African nations aimed at limiting illegal migration.
