Scores Lost Following Craft Holding 200 Asylum Seekers Capsizes off the Gambian coast.
No fewer than seven individuals have died and numerous others are missing in the wake of a boat transporting around two hundred migrants seeking to enter the European continent sank off the coast of Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for those still missing who were aboard the sunken boat that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers attempting to get to European nations.
Almost 47,000 individuals made it to the Canaries in the year 2024 and data indicates over 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy launched a search operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that offered help, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in serious condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants trying to reach European countries, frequently via perilous trips over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with several Maghreb states with the goal of limiting irregular migration.
