Scores Lost After Vessel Holding 200 Migrants Goes Down in waters off Gambia.
At least seven souls lost their lives and a significant number are lost in the wake of a boat transporting around two hundred people seeking to enter Europe sank off the coast of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals made it to the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and figures suggest over nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search-and-rescue operation, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Officials state several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who perished at sea have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is a frequent corridor taken by asylum seekers seeking to get to Europe, typically through perilous trips by sea and land.
In recent years, the EU has reached agreements with a number of North African nations designed to reducing irregular migration.
