At least 31 people drowned when an overloaded migrant boat capsized off Gambia’s coast on New Year’s Eve, authorities said on Monday. The government said many others remain missing and are feared dead, darkening the year’s first hours with renewed maritime tragedy.
The boat, carrying more than 200 undocumented migrants, sent a distress call overnight between December 31 and January 1. The alert came from waters near Gambia’s North Bank region, a known departure point for perilous journeys towards Europe.
The Gambian Navy launched a search after midnight, deploying several vessels alongside a civilian fishing boat to find survivors. Rescuers later found the stricken boat grounded on a sandbank, its passengers scattered between survival and loss.
Officials confirmed 15 bodies recovered in Gambia and 16 in neighbouring Senegal, sharply raising the earlier death toll. Authorities said 102 people were rescued alive, while 23 survivors were hospitalised with injuries and severe exhaustion.
Thousands of mostly young West Africans attempt the Atlantic crossing each year, driven by limited visas and tightened European border controls. Stricter patrols off Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have pushed departures further south, lengthening routes and compounding the dangers at sea. President Adama Barrow said the nation was in mourning, as families grieved lives lost to hope and harsh waters.