At least seven people have died and many others are missing after a boat carrying about 200 migrants trying to head to Europe capsized off the coast of Gambia, authorities said.
The boat capsized near the village of Jinack in the North Bank region at midnight on Wednesday and was later found stranded on a sandbank, the ministry said in a statement.
So far, 96 people have been rescued, and the search for other passengers on board the shipwreck, which was heading to Spain’s Canary Islands, continues.
The dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African immigrants trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 people arrived in the Canary Islands in 2024, and the Spanish non-governmental organization Caminando Fronteras estimates that more than 9,000 migrants have lost their lives.
After Wednesday’s incident, the Gambian navy launched a search and rescue operation, involving several navy ships and a fishing boat that came to assist, the ministry said.
Authorities did not say what type of boat it was, but it was a large wooden canoe typically not designed for trips of more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) across the Atlantic. They are often crowded.
Some of the victims were not Gambian nationals and their identities were still being confirmed, the ministry said.
The bodies of 7 people were recovered, and 10 of those rescued were reported to be in critical condition and receiving emergency treatment.
The Gambia is increasingly used as a departure point for West African migrants and asylum seekers crossing to mainland Europe via Spain’s Canary Islands.
In recent years, the European Union has reached agreements with several North African countries to reduce illegal migration, but this has forced many migrants to take the longer and more dangerous transatlantic route.
