A minimum of seven individuals have died and a significant number are missing after a craft transporting approximately 200 people attempting to reach Europe sank near the shoreline of Gambia, authorities say.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was later found "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
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 dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and data indicates more than 9,000 people have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy launched a search-and-rescue operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Authorities say a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers attempting to enter the EU, frequently via perilous trips over water and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has established pacts with multiple North African countries aimed at curtailing illegal migration.
