No fewer than seven individuals have perished and many others are lost following a craft transporting approximately 200 people seeking to enter European shores overturned near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were traveling on the capsized craft that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 individuals reached the Canaries in last year and estimates over nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy launched a rescue mission, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry said.
Officials state a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven individuals who died have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a frequent corridor used by migrants seeking to get to European countries, typically through hazardous voyages over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has forged deals with multiple North African countries with the goal of limiting illegal migration.
