No fewer than seven individuals lost their lives and many others remain unaccounted for after a vessel ferrying about two hundred people seeking to enter Europe sank off the coast of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals reached the Canary Islands in 2024 and estimates over nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a search-and-rescue operation, deploying a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.
Reports indicate several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven victims who perished at sea have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Frequent Pathway
The Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers attempting to enter the EU, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states designed to reducing irregular migration.
