Dozens Missing Following Craft Holding Two Hundred Migrants Goes Down off The Gambia.
A minimum of seven souls lost their lives and many others are lost following a vessel ferrying approximately 200 migrants seeking to enter European shores capsized off the coast of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search operation, involving several naval vessels and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is a frequent corridor used by asylum seekers seeking to get to the EU, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European Union has established pacts with several North African nations designed to curtailing illegal migration.
