By Fatou Krubally
More than 250 migrants, including 29 women and children, are feared dead after a boat reportedly sank following its departure from Nuimi Jinack, The Gambia, on December 5, 2025, sources disclosed.
According to Ebrima, Gambia-based migrant situation reporter, the vessel was primarily carrying Sub-Saharan Africans, including 164 Gambians.
Ebrima said efforts to trace the vessel found no interceptions in Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, or Cape Verde. Investigations in the Canary Islands, including El Hierro, Las Palmas, and Tenerife, confirmed that the boat never reached Spanish shores. Authorities now believe there are no survivors.
This incident follows a worrying pattern of migrant disasters along West African routes. On November 17, 2025, another vessel carrying over 190 people from The Gambia reportedly disappeared at sea. Historical records also cite similar tragedies, including a boat that sank off Kartong on October 19, 2014, and another departing Jambur on October 14, 2024, both with no survivors.
Families in Nuimi Jinack are mourning, with some reportedly losing two or three relatives on the same boat. Passengers were from Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast.
“My condolences to the families and communities affected,” Ebrima said. “These losses are heartbreaking. My prayers are with the souls of those lost. May Allah have mercy on them.”
He added that the tragedy underscores the continuing risks faced by migrants along the West African coast, many of whom undertake perilous sea journeys in search of better opportunities.
