Dozens Lost After Craft Holding 200 Asylum Seekers Sinks in waters off The Gambia.
A minimum of seven people have died and many others are missing in the wake of a craft transporting around 200 migrants seeking to enter the European continent sank in waters near Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach the EU.
Nearly 47,000 individuals made it to the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates over nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving multiple navy ships and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defense officials said.
Reports indicate some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven people who drowned have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are described as being in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers attempting to enter European countries, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European bloc has reached agreements with several North African nations with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.
