A minimum of seven souls have perished and many others are lost following a boat carrying approximately two hundred migrants attempting to reach European shores sank in waters near the Gambian coast, officials state.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight near Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants seeking entry into the EU.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and data indicates more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, the navy began a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a fishing boat that offered help, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
The Gambia is a frequent corridor taken by migrants trying to reach Europe, frequently via dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the EU has reached agreements with multiple North African nations designed to limiting undocumented migration.
