A minimum of seven souls have died and many others are lost in the wake of a craft transporting approximately 200 people trying to get to European shores capsized in waters near the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for those still missing who were on board the capsized craft that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canaries in last year and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy launched a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that offered help, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven victims who died have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway used by migrants seeking to get to European countries, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the EU has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states designed to reducing undocumented migration.
