A minimum of seven people have died and numerous others remain unaccounted for following a vessel carrying around two hundred people seeking to enter Europe capsized off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants trying to reach the EU.
Almost 47,000 individuals made it to the Canaries in the year 2024 and estimates more than nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who died were found, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a common pathway utilized by migrants attempting to enter Europe, often on hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European bloc has forged deals with multiple Maghreb states designed to limiting illegal migration.
