Numerous People Unaccounted For After Craft Transporting 200 Migrants Goes Down off Gambia.
No fewer than seven people have died and many others are missing in the wake of a craft carrying approximately two hundred people seeking to enter European shores capsized in waters near The Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night close to Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa attempting to get to the EU.
Close to 47,000 people made it to the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search-and-rescue operation, using multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.
Officials state a number of those who died 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 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is one of the routes used by migrants trying to reach European countries, often on hazardous voyages over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states aimed at curtailing illegal migration.
