A minimum of seven souls lost their lives and many others are lost in the wake of a vessel transporting around 200 migrants seeking to enter the European continent sank in waters near Gambia, authorities say.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight near Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly 47,000 people arrived at the Canaries in last year and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy initiated a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials reported.
Reports indicate several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven victims who drowned were found, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
The Gambia is a common pathway taken by asylum seekers seeking to get to the EU, frequently via hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the EU has established pacts with multiple North African countries with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
