No fewer than seven people have died and many others remain unaccounted for following a boat ferrying approximately 200 migrants attempting to reach the European continent overturned near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the sunken boat that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 people arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates more than 9,000 migrants perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defense officials reported.
Reports indicate some of the deceased are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven victims who died have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes taken by migrants trying to reach the EU, typically through perilous trips by sea and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states with the goal of curtailing undocumented migration.
