A minimum of seven individuals have perished and numerous others remain unaccounted for in the wake of a craft ferrying around two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores overturned near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and data indicates in excess of 9,000 people have died in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy launched a search operation, using multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials said.
Officials state several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who perished at sea were found, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a frequent corridor taken by migrants trying to reach the EU, frequently via hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European Union has forged deals with a number of North African nations aimed at curtailing undocumented migration.
