No fewer than seven individuals have died and a significant number are lost following a boat ferrying approximately two hundred people seeking to enter Europe overturned in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa seeking entry into European nations.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canary Islands in 2024 and figures suggest more than 9,000 migrants have lost their lives trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a search-and-rescue operation, involving several naval vessels and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.
Reports indicate several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven victims who died were found, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, often on hazardous voyages by sea and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with several North African countries aimed at limiting undocumented migration.
