At least seven individuals have perished and many others remain unaccounted for after a vessel carrying around two hundred migrants attempting to reach European shores sank near the shoreline of Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants attempting to get to European nations.
Almost 47,000 individuals reached the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and figures suggest over 9,000 people have lost their lives trying.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a search operation, deploying multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials said.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven victims who died have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in serious condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is one of the routes used by asylum seekers seeking to get to the EU, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European Union has reached agreements with multiple Maghreb states with the goal of reducing undocumented migration.
