Numerous People Missing After Craft Holding 200 Asylum Seekers Capsizes near the coast of the Gambian coast.
A minimum of seven people have perished and numerous others are missing following a craft carrying about 200 migrants seeking to enter Europe sank off the coast of Gambia, officials state.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night near Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", 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 aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa trying to reach the EU.
Close to 47,000 people arrived at the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 people have lost their lives during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing boat that came to assist, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven people who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a common pathway utilized by asylum seekers trying to reach European countries, often on hazardous voyages over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states designed to limiting irregular migration.