No fewer than seven souls have perished and many others are missing in the wake of a vessel ferrying approximately two hundred people seeking to enter the European continent capsized near the shoreline of Gambia, authorities say.
The vessel capsized late Wednesday night near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and data indicates over nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defence ministry reported.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven people who drowned were found, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes taken by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on hazardous voyages by sea and land.
Recently, the EU has reached agreements with a number of North African countries with the goal of reducing irregular migration.
