A minimum of seven souls lost their lives and numerous others remain unaccounted for after a craft ferrying about 200 migrants attempting to reach the European continent overturned near the shoreline of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Almost forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 people have died in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy initiated a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a fishing boat that came to assist, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who died have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a frequent corridor used by migrants attempting to enter European countries, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the EU has reached agreements with several Maghreb states designed to reducing undocumented migration.
