A minimum of seven people have died and numerous others remain unaccounted for in the wake of a boat ferrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to Europe capsized off the coast of The Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Almost forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and estimates over 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy initiated a search-and-rescue operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials reported.
Officials state some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven people who perished at sea have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants attempting to enter European countries, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of North African countries with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
