No fewer than seven individuals have perished and many others are lost in the wake of a craft ferrying around 200 people attempting to reach European shores overturned off the coast of The Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were on board the sunken boat that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants seeking entry into the EU.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canary Islands in last year and data indicates more than 9,000 people have died in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces launched a rescue mission, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Frequent Pathway
The Gambia is one of the routes taken by migrants trying to reach Europe, typically through hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has forged deals with a number of North African countries aimed at reducing illegal migration.
