No fewer than seven individuals have died and a significant number are missing following a vessel transporting about two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores capsized off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near Jinack in the northern bank region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities 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 sunken boat that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 people reached the Canaries in last year and estimates more than 9,000 migrants have lost their lives in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search operation, using several naval vessels and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven people who died were found, and ten of the survivors are described as being in serious condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is one of the routes used by migrants seeking to get to Europe, frequently via dangerous journeys by sea and land.
Over the past few years, the EU has reached agreements with multiple Maghreb states designed to reducing illegal migration.
