Scores Missing Following Boat Holding 200 Migrants Sinks off the Gambian coast.
No fewer than seven individuals lost their lives and a significant number are missing after a craft transporting approximately 200 migrants attempting to reach Europe capsized near the shoreline of The Gambia, authorities say.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night near Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African migrants attempting to get to Europe.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 people have lost their lives during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the military said.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The deceased of the seven people who died were found, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a frequent corridor taken by migrants attempting to enter the EU, frequently via perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with several North African countries designed to reducing irregular migration.
