Dozens Unaccounted For After Boat Transporting Two Hundred Asylum Seekers Goes Down in waters off the Gambian coast.
No fewer than seven souls have died and many others are lost in the wake of a craft transporting approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to European shores sank in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the sunken boat that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants seeking entry into the EU.
Nearly 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 people perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search operation, using several naval vessels and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the military confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers trying to reach the EU, frequently via hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has forged deals with several North African nations with the goal of limiting illegal migration.
