Senior government officials have on Wednesday visited families of the migrant boat tragedy in Barra, North Bank Division.  

The government delegation, which was led by Tourism Minister Hamat Bah, was in Barra to pay their condolences to the bereaved families and survivors.

The delegation handed over a cash donation of D 104,000 and 150 bags of rice to Alhagie Musa Kanteh, deputy governor of North Bank Region, for distribution to the bereaved families.

They pledged to deal with the problem of people smuggling and that government is investigating the tragic accident that claimed the lives of 63 Gambian migrants including women and children.

A boat carrying 195 migrants left Barra on November 27 en route to Spain’s Canary Island. It ran into troubles off the coast of Mauritania when they attempted to seek help after running low on food, fuel and water. The boat capsized reportedly after hitting rocks. 63 migrants drowned while 47 were declared missing. 87 migrants survived after being rescued by the Mauritanian Coast Guard.

The migrant boat tragedy is the single biggest loss of Gambian lives since the illegal mass migration to Europe started in 2012.