A minimum of seven individuals lost their lives and numerous others are missing following a boat transporting about two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores sank in waters near the Gambian coast, officials state.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU.
Almost 47,000 people made it to the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and estimates more than 9,000 people perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces launched a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say some of the deceased are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven victims who drowned were found, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers seeking to get to the EU, often on hazardous voyages by sea and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has reached agreements with several Maghreb states designed to curtailing undocumented migration.
