Scores Unaccounted For After Vessel Transporting 200 Migrants Capsizes in waters off The Gambia.
No fewer than seven souls lost their lives and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a boat carrying around two hundred migrants seeking to enter the European continent overturned in waters near The Gambia, reports confirm.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night near Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the capsized craft that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.
Close to 47,000 people arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates more than 9,000 people perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, The Gambian Navy launched a search-and-rescue operation, involving multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defense officials said.
Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is a frequent corridor taken by asylum seekers attempting to enter European countries, often on dangerous journeys by sea and land.
In recent years, the EU has established pacts with several North African countries designed to reducing undocumented migration.
