A minimum of seven individuals have perished and a significant number are lost following a vessel transporting around 200 people seeking to enter European shores capsized in waters near the Gambian coast, officials state.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night close to Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals have lost their lives in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a rescue mission, deploying a number of military boats and a fishing boat that came to assist, the defence ministry confirmed.
Officials state a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to European countries, typically through dangerous journeys over water and land.
Over the past few years, the EU has established pacts with multiple North African countries with the goal of reducing illegal migration.
