Dozens Unaccounted For Following Boat Carrying Two Hundred Migrants Capsizes near the coast of Gambia.
At least seven people have died and many others are lost following a boat ferrying around two hundred people seeking to enter Europe capsized off the coast of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a rescue operation continues for those still missing who were aboard the capsized craft that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa attempting to get to the EU.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest more than 9,000 migrants have lost their lives during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy initiated a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry confirmed.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven people who perished at sea have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes used by asylum seekers trying to reach European countries, typically through hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European bloc has forged deals with a number of Maghreb states aimed at curtailing irregular migration.
