A minimum of seven individuals lost their lives and numerous others are missing after a craft carrying approximately two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Close to 47,000 people made it to the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest in excess of nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy initiated a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven individuals who died were found, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a frequent corridor taken by migrants attempting to enter Europe, frequently via hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European Union has reached agreements with several Maghreb states aimed at limiting illegal migration.
