A minimum of seven souls have perished and numerous others are lost in the wake of a craft transporting around 200 migrants attempting to reach European shores capsized off the coast of The Gambia, authorities say.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for those still missing who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants trying to reach Europe.
Close to 47,000 individuals made it to the Spanish archipelago in last year and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven victims who died have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway utilized by migrants trying to reach the EU, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with a number of North African nations with the goal of reducing illegal migration.
