At least seven people have died and many others are missing after a vessel ferrying around two hundred migrants attempting to reach the European continent sank off the coast of The Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach the EU.
Almost 47,000 individuals made it to the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and data indicates over nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven victims who died have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes utilized by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on perilous trips over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has established pacts with several North African nations designed to reducing undocumented migration.
