No fewer than seven individuals have perished and a significant number are lost in the wake of a boat ferrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to the European continent capsized off the coast of The Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach the EU.
Almost 47,000 people made it to the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and figures suggest over nine thousand individuals have lost their lives trying.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces launched a rescue mission, involving multiple navy ships and a fishing boat that offered help, the defence ministry said.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven victims who drowned have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are described as being in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is a common pathway utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has forged deals with multiple North African countries designed to limiting undocumented migration.
