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Seven bodies were recovered and 96 radical rescued aft a vessel perchance carrying much than 200 migrants capsized overnight successful northwest Gambia, the country’s Defence Ministry said connected Thursday (January 1, 2026), adding hunt and betterment operations were continuing.
It was the latest deadly incidental on 1 of the world’s astir unsafe migrant routes frequented mostly by West Africans trying to scope Spain via the Canary Islands.
The vessel was reported to have capsized astir midnight successful the vicinity of a colony successful Gambia’s North Bank region, and it was aboriginal recovered “grounded connected a sandbank,” the Defence Ministry said in the statement.
The consequent rescue ngo progressive 3 naval speedboats, a coastal patrol vas and “a section sportfishing canoe” whose operators volunteered to help, the connection said.
Ten of the rescued migrants were successful captious condition and receiving urgent aesculapian attention, it said, without giving their nationalities.
More than 46,000 irregular migrants reached the Canary Islands successful 2024, a record, according to the European Union. More than 10,000 died attempting the journey, a 58% summation implicit 2023, according to the rights radical Caminando Fronteras.
However during the archetypal 11 months of 2025, irregular migration into the European Union on the West African way fell 60%, according to the EU’s borderline bureau Frontex.
The driblet is mostly owed to stronger prevention efforts by departure countries moving with EU member states, Frontex has said.
At slightest 70 radical were killed successful August 2025 erstwhile a vessel believed to person departed from Gambia carrying migrants capsized successful 1 of the deadliest accidents successful caller years.
