At least seven people have died after a boat carrying more than 200 people capsized along a popular migration route off the Gambian coast, with dozens more believed to be missing, local authorities say.

The boat was reported to have capsized around midnight on Thursday in the vicinity of a village in The Gambia’s North Bank region, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

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Authorities said seven bodies were recovered, and at least 96 people were rescued, many of whom were seriously wounded.

Alerted by a distress call, the Gambian navy launched a search-and-rescue operation after midnight, involving several naval vessels and a fishing boat that came to assist, according to the statement.

The shipwrecked vessel was later found “grounded into a sandbank”, the Defence Ministry said.

Several of the victims have been identified as not being of Gambian nationality, and the authorities are currently verifying their identity, the statement added.

The Gambia has become a jumping-off point for migrants and asylum seekers seeking to reach Spain’s Canary Islands, a gateway to continental Europe, by boat from West Africa.

According to the European Union, more than 46,000 migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024.

More than 10,000 people died attempting the journey across the Atlantic, a 58 percent increase over 2023, according to the rights group Caminando Fronteras.

However, irregular migration into the EU along the West African route fell 60 percent during the first 11 months of 2025, according to the Frontex border agency, which credited stronger prevention efforts by departure countries for the drop.

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Still, migrants and asylum seekers continue to try to reach Europe on flimsy and often overcrowded vessels.

In May, seven women and girls died when a small boat transporting more than 100 people capsized while approaching the Canary Islands.