At least seven people have died and a significant number are lost in the wake of a craft ferrying around two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores capsized off the coast of Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the sunken boat that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa seeking entry into European nations.
Close to 47,000 people arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and data indicates over 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search operation, deploying several naval vessels and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defense officials confirmed.
Officials state a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who perished at sea have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes used by migrants seeking to get to Europe, typically through dangerous journeys by sea and land.
Recently, the EU has established pacts with several North African countries designed to reducing undocumented migration.
