At least seven souls lost their lives and many others are lost in the wake of a vessel transporting approximately 200 people trying to get to European shores capsized off the coast of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and data indicates in excess of 9,000 migrants perished trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing boat that offered help, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven victims who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are described as being in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes used by migrants attempting to enter the EU, typically through perilous trips over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European bloc has reached agreements with multiple North African nations designed to curtailing illegal migration.
