A minimum of seven individuals have perished and a significant number are lost in the wake of a craft transporting about 200 migrants attempting to reach European shores capsized off the coast of The Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for those still missing who were traveling on the sunken boat that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa trying to reach the EU.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canary Islands in last year and estimates more than nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search-and-rescue operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defense officials said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The deceased of the seven people who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, often on hazardous voyages by sea and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with multiple North African countries with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.
