At least seven individuals have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a boat ferrying approximately two hundred people trying to get to Europe overturned in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was heading towards the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU.
Close to 47,000 individuals reached the Canary Islands in last year and estimates over nine thousand individuals have lost their lives during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, deploying a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who perished at sea have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a frequent corridor taken by migrants seeking to get to the EU, frequently via dangerous journeys over water and land.
Recently, the European Union has forged deals with a number of Maghreb states designed to limiting irregular migration.
