Numerous People Unaccounted For Following Boat Carrying 200 Migrants Capsizes off Gambia.
No fewer than seven individuals have died and many others are lost in the wake of a vessel transporting approximately 200 people trying to get to Europe capsized off the coast of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight near Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants seeking entry into European nations.
Nearly 47,000 individuals reached the Canary Islands in 2024 and figures suggest in excess of nine thousand individuals have lost their lives during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy began a search operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the military said.
Officials state some of the deceased are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven victims who died were found, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes taken by migrants attempting to enter Europe, frequently via hazardous voyages by sea and land.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has established pacts with several Maghreb states with the goal of reducing irregular migration.
