No fewer than seven souls have died and many others are lost following a boat ferrying around 200 migrants trying to get to European shores overturned in waters near the Gambian coast, officials state.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the sunken boat that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants attempting to get to Europe.
Almost 47,000 individuals made it to the Canaries in last year and estimates more than 9,000 people have died trying.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a search operation, using multiple navy ships 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 details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven people who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers trying to reach European countries, frequently via perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has reached agreements with a number of North African countries with the goal of limiting illegal migration.
