Numerous People Lost Following Boat Holding 200 Asylum Seekers Capsizes near the coast of Gambia.
A minimum of seven people have died and many others remain unaccounted for in the wake of a boat carrying around 200 migrants attempting to reach Europe capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight near Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the capsized craft that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 people have died during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, the navy began a search operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defence ministry confirmed.
Officials state several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a frequent corridor utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, frequently via dangerous journeys by sea and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with several North African countries with the goal of limiting irregular migration.
