A minimum of seven people have perished and many others are missing following a boat transporting about 200 people attempting to reach Europe capsized in waters near The Gambia, officials state.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants seeking entry into the EU.
Almost 47,000 people reached the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and data indicates over nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a search-and-rescue operation, deploying a number of military boats and a fishing boat that came to assist, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who died have been retrieved, 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 attempting to enter the EU, often on dangerous journeys by sea and land.
Recently, the European bloc has reached agreements with a number of North African nations with the goal of reducing irregular migration.
