No fewer than seven souls have perished and many others remain unaccounted for after a boat transporting around two hundred people seeking to enter European shores sank off the coast of The Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for those still missing who were traveling on the sunken boat that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa attempting to get to the EU.
Nearly 47,000 individuals made it to the Canaries in last year and estimates more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces initiated a rescue mission, using multiple navy ships and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven people who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a frequent corridor utilized by migrants trying to reach the EU, typically through dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the EU has reached agreements with several North African nations with the goal of curtailing irregular migration.
