No fewer than seven people have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for in the wake of a boat ferrying approximately 200 people trying to get to Europe overturned off the coast of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night near Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
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 bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa attempting to get to European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canaries in 2024 and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a common pathway taken by migrants trying to reach Europe, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has reached agreements with a number of North African countries designed to limiting irregular migration.
