A minimum of seven individuals have perished and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a vessel carrying approximately 200 people seeking to enter European shores overturned near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.
Almost forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a rescue mission, involving multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defence ministry reported.
Reports indicate several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven people who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is one of the routes utilized by asylum seekers seeking to get to Europe, typically through perilous trips over water and land.
In recent years, the EU has established pacts with multiple Maghreb states aimed at limiting undocumented migration.
