A minimum of seven individuals have perished and numerous others remain unaccounted for after a craft carrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to Europe capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight near Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa trying to reach European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and figures suggest over nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, deploying several naval vessels and a fishing boat that came to assist, the military said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven people who perished at sea have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes taken by migrants trying to reach the EU, typically through dangerous journeys over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has forged deals with multiple North African countries with the goal of limiting illegal migration.
