At least seven people lost their lives and many others are lost in the wake of a boat ferrying about 200 people trying to get to the European continent sank off the coast of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday close to Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were traveling on the capsized craft that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and estimates in excess of 9,000 people have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search operation, using multiple navy ships and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven victims who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway used by asylum seekers attempting to enter European countries, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states with the goal of curtailing undocumented migration.
