Scores Unaccounted For Following Craft Transporting Two Hundred Asylum Seekers Sinks near the coast of Gambia.
No fewer than seven individuals have died and numerous others are lost following a boat transporting around two hundred migrants attempting to reach European shores capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants trying to reach Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest over nine thousand individuals perished in the attempt.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a search operation, using several naval vessels and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is a frequent corridor utilized by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on hazardous voyages over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with multiple Maghreb states aimed at limiting irregular migration.
