A minimum of seven individuals lost their lives and many others are lost after a craft transporting approximately two hundred migrants attempting to reach European shores capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the capsized craft that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Nearly 47,000 people made it to the Canary Islands in 2024 and data indicates more than 9,000 migrants have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy initiated a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The deceased of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a frequent corridor used by migrants seeking to get to Europe, typically through perilous trips by sea and land.
Recently, the European Union has established pacts with multiple North African countries with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
