Numerous People Unaccounted For After Boat Holding Two Hundred Asylum Seekers Sinks near the coast of Gambia.
A minimum of seven people lost their lives and a significant number remain unaccounted for following a vessel carrying about 200 people attempting to reach Europe overturned near the shoreline of The Gambia, officials state.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the capsized craft that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 people reached the Canary Islands in 2024 and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals perished in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy launched a search operation, deploying multiple navy ships and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the military said.
Officials state some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes used by migrants seeking to get to European countries, frequently via dangerous journeys over water and land.
In recent years, the EU has reached agreements with a number of North African countries designed to reducing undocumented migration.
