At least seven souls lost their lives and a significant number remain unaccounted for following a boat ferrying about 200 migrants trying to get to European shores capsized in waters near the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday close to Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa seeking entry into European nations.
Nearly 47,000 people reached the Canaries in last year and data indicates more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a rescue mission, using multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials said.
Authorities say a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are said to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through dangerous journeys over water and land.
In recent years, the European Union has forged deals with a number of North African countries with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.
