A minimum of seven people have perished and numerous others remain unaccounted for following a boat transporting about 200 migrants trying to get to European shores capsized in waters near The Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates over 9,000 migrants have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search-and-rescue operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that offered help, the military confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven individuals who died were found, and ten of the survivors are described as being in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
The Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants seeking to get to the EU, often on hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European bloc has established pacts with several Maghreb states aimed at curtailing undocumented migration.
