Dozens missing after boat carrying migrants capsized of Gambia

Agencies :

Dozens are missing after a boat carrying more than 200 migrants on their way to Europe capsized off the coast of Gambia, the West African nation’s leader said late Friday, setting off a frantic search and rescue operation.

At least 102 survivors have been rescued and seven bodies recovered from the boat that capsized on New Year’s Eve in northwest Gambia’s North Bank region, Gambian President Adama Barrow said in a state broadcast.

The emergency services were joined by local fishermen and other volunteers in searching for the victims, days after Wednesday’s incident near the village of Jinack, he said.

Thousands of Africans desperate for better opportunities in Europe risk their lives traveling on boats along the Atlantic coast, one of the world’s deadliest migrant routes that connects the West African coast across Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania.