A minimum of seven souls have perished and many others remain unaccounted for following a vessel transporting around 200 migrants trying to get to the European continent sank near the shoreline of Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night in the vicinity of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.
Almost 47,000 people made it to the Canaries in the year 2024 and figures suggest more than 9,000 people perished in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy launched a search-and-rescue operation, deploying multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the military confirmed.
Authorities say some of the deceased are not from The Gambia and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway utilized by migrants seeking to get to European countries, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European bloc has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states designed to limiting undocumented migration.
