Scores Lost Following Craft Transporting Two Hundred Asylum Seekers Goes Down in waters off The Gambia.
A minimum of seven souls lost their lives and numerous others are missing after a boat ferrying approximately two hundred migrants attempting to reach European shores sank in waters near Gambia, authorities say.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night near Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and figures suggest over 9,000 migrants perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the military said.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven people who drowned have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a common pathway used by migrants seeking to get to Europe, frequently via hazardous voyages over water and land.
Recently, the European Union has forged deals with several North African countries designed to curtailing undocumented migration.
