At least seven individuals have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a craft ferrying approximately two hundred people seeking to enter European shores sank near the shoreline of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers seeking entry into European nations.
Close to 47,000 individuals reached the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest more than 9,000 people have lost their lives trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, the navy launched a search-and-rescue operation, using multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven individuals who died were found, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to Europe, often on dangerous journeys by sea and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with several Maghreb states designed to limiting undocumented migration.
