At least seven souls have died and numerous others are missing in the wake of a craft carrying about two hundred people trying to get to European shores sank off the coast of The Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for those still missing who were traveling on the sunken boat that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and data indicates in excess of 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a search operation, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are described as being in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is one of the routes utilized by asylum seekers seeking to get to European countries, typically through hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European Union has established pacts with several Maghreb states designed to limiting undocumented migration.
