A minimum of seven souls have died and a significant number are missing in the wake of a vessel transporting around two hundred migrants attempting to reach Europe sank off the coast of Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday near Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on 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 Europe.
Almost 47,000 individuals made it to the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and figures suggest over 9,000 people have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy launched a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes taken by migrants seeking to get to the EU, frequently via perilous trips over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has reached agreements with multiple Maghreb states with the goal of reducing illegal migration.
