More than 250 migrants from The Gambia disappear at sea

Over 250 migrants are feared dead after a boat vanished from The Gambia, with zero survivors found anywhere.

The boat and its passengers

• Ebrima, a Gambia-based reporter, confirmed 250+ aboard the vessel.
• Carried nationals from seven different West African countries.
• Gambians made up the bulk of the passenger list at 164.
• 29 of those on board were women and children.

Where it all went wrong

• Departed from Nuimi Jinack, The Gambia, on December 5, 2025.
• Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, and Cape Verde turned up nothing.
• Canary Islands searches confirmed it never hit Spanish shores.
• Authorities have ruled out any chance of survivors existing.

Grief back home in The Gambia

• Families in Nuimi Jinack are wrecked, losing two or three relatives each.
• Some households got hit multiple times on the same vessel.
• Passengers came from Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, and other countries.
• Grief is spreading across multiple West African nations right now.

This is not a one-off tragedy

• A vessel carrying 190+ people from The Gambia vanished on November 17, 2025.
• Kartong saw a deadly boat sinking back on October 19, 2014.
• Another departure from Jambur on October 14, 2024, ended with zero survivors.
• West African sea routes have a long, brutal history of deaths.

What Ebrima had to say

• Ebrima called out the continuing danger on these perilous routes.
• Migrants keep risking everything for better opportunities abroad.
• Prayers were offered for those lost at sea.
• These journeys remain a deadly gamble for West African migrants.