No fewer than seven people have perished and many others are lost following a craft carrying about 200 people seeking to enter European shores sank near the shoreline of The Gambia, officials state.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday close to Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Nearly 47,000 people made it to the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates over 9,000 migrants have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who perished at sea have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes used by migrants trying to reach the EU, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states aimed at curtailing irregular migration.
