No fewer than seven individuals have died and a significant number are lost after a vessel carrying about 200 people attempting to reach European shores sank near the shoreline of Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa seeking entry into the EU.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in 2024 and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the military reported.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who perished at sea have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is one of the routes used by migrants seeking to get to Europe, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of North African countries with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
