Dozens Missing Following Craft Transporting 200 Asylum Seekers Goes Down near the coast of the Gambian coast.
A minimum of seven people have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a boat ferrying around two hundred migrants trying to get to Europe overturned off the coast of Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants attempting to get to Europe.
Close to forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024 and figures suggest in excess of nine thousand individuals have died in the attempt.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search operation, using multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that offered help, the defense officials confirmed.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven victims who perished at sea have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes utilized by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on hazardous voyages over water and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has reached agreements with several North African nations designed to curtailing illegal migration.
