Seven dead, 96 rescued after migrant boat capsizes in Gambia
Jan 02, 2026
Banjul [Gambia], January 2: Seven bodies were recovered and 96 people rescued after a boat potentially carrying more than 200 migrants capsized overnight in northwest Gambia, the country's defense ministry said on Thursday, adding search and recovery operations were continuing.
It was the latest deadly incident along one of the world's most dangerous migrant routes frequented mostly by West Africans trying to reach Spain via the Canary Islands.
The boat was reported to have capsized around midnight in the vicinity of a village in Gambia's North Bank region, and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank," the defense ministry said in the statement.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
