Numerous People Lost After Craft Holding 200 Asylum Seekers Goes Down near the coast of Gambia.
No fewer than seven individuals have died and a significant number are lost after a vessel ferrying about two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores overturned in waters near the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
96 individuals were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals made it to the Canaries in the year 2024 and data indicates more than nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, the navy launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry said.
Authorities say some of the deceased are not from The Gambia and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes used by migrants attempting to enter the EU, typically through hazardous voyages over water and land.
Recently, the European bloc has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states aimed at curtailing illegal migration.
