A minimum of seven souls have died and a significant number are missing after a vessel transporting about 200 people trying to get to European shores overturned in waters near Gambia, authorities say.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night near Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants attempting to get to the EU.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in last year and estimates over 9,000 people have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy initiated a rescue mission, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.
Authorities say some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned were found, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes taken by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the EU has forged deals with a number of Maghreb states designed to curtailing illegal migration.
