A minimum of seven individuals have died and many others remain unaccounted for after a craft carrying around two hundred people seeking to enter the European continent overturned in waters near Gambia, officials state.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa trying to reach the EU.
Almost forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates more than nine thousand individuals have lost their lives during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a search-and-rescue operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials reported.
Authorities say a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a common pathway taken by asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, frequently via hazardous voyages by sea and land.
In recent years, the EU has forged deals with several North African nations with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
