No fewer than seven souls have died and a significant number are lost following a boat carrying about 200 migrants attempting to reach European shores overturned near the shoreline of Gambia, reports confirm.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight near Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 people arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have lost their lives during the journey.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving multiple navy ships and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are said to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a frequent corridor utilized by asylum seekers seeking to get to European countries, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European bloc has forged deals with multiple North African nations with the goal of reducing irregular migration.
