A minimum of seven individuals have died and numerous others are missing following a craft carrying around two hundred people trying to get to the European continent capsized off the coast of Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024 and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a rescue mission, involving several naval vessels and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven victims who died were found, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers seeking to get to the EU, typically through perilous trips over water and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states aimed at curtailing illegal migration.
