No fewer than seven individuals have perished and many others are lost following a craft ferrying about 200 people trying to get to Europe capsized near the shoreline of Gambia, authorities say.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night near the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were on board the sunken boat that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers trying to reach the EU.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canaries in last year and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces began a search operation, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died were found, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is a common pathway taken by migrants trying to reach Europe, typically through dangerous journeys by sea and land.
In recent years, the European Union has established pacts with a number of North African countries designed to limiting illegal migration.
