At least seven people have died and many others are missing following a craft ferrying about two hundred people attempting to reach Europe sank off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers attempting to get to European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and estimates in excess of 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the military said.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The deceased of the seven people who drowned have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants attempting to enter European countries, frequently via perilous trips by sea and land.
Recently, the EU has reached agreements with several Maghreb states designed to curtailing illegal migration.
