A minimum of seven individuals lost their lives and many others are lost after a vessel transporting around two hundred migrants trying to get to Europe overturned near the shoreline of Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants attempting to get to European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canaries in the year 2024 and data indicates more than 9,000 people perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, The Gambian Navy began a rescue mission, deploying a number of military boats and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven people who perished at sea were found, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes used by asylum seekers trying to reach the EU, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European bloc has reached agreements with a number of North African countries designed to curtailing illegal migration.
