A minimum of seven individuals lost their lives and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a vessel ferrying around 200 people trying to get to Europe sank off the coast of The Gambia, authorities say.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants seeking entry into European nations.
Close to 47,000 people made it to the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest in excess of nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Ongoing Mission
After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a search operation, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry confirmed.
Officials state a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who drowned have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is a frequent corridor utilized by asylum seekers attempting to enter the EU, typically through dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states with the goal of curtailing undocumented migration.
