A minimum of seven souls have died and many others are lost following a vessel carrying approximately two hundred people trying to get to European shores capsized near the shoreline of The Gambia, authorities say.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest over nine thousand individuals have lost their lives trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces launched a rescue mission, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry said.
Officials state some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a common pathway taken by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with a number of North African nations with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
