A minimum of seven souls have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a craft transporting around two hundred migrants trying to get to Europe sank off the coast of Gambia, authorities say.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight near Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the capsized craft that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canary Islands in last year and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have lost their lives trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy initiated a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defence ministry said.
Reports indicate some of the deceased 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 reported to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a common pathway used by migrants attempting to enter the EU, typically through dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the EU has reached agreements with several North African nations aimed at curtailing undocumented migration.
