A minimum of seven individuals have died and a significant number are lost after a boat ferrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to European shores capsized near the shoreline of Gambia, authorities say.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Close to forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 people have died in the attempt.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy initiated a search operation, deploying several naval vessels and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defence ministry said.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes used by asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, frequently via dangerous journeys over water and land.
Recently, the European bloc has reached agreements with multiple North African countries designed to reducing illegal migration.
