Scores Lost After Vessel Holding 200 Migrants Capsizes in waters off The Gambia.
A minimum of seven people have died and many others are lost following a boat transporting approximately two hundred migrants seeking to enter the European continent overturned off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night in the vicinity of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was subsequently discovered "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants attempting to get to the EU.
Close to forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canaries in 2024 and data indicates in excess of 9,000 people perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defense officials reported.
Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven people who died have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes taken by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through dangerous journeys by sea and land.
In recent years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of North African nations with the goal of reducing undocumented migration.
