No fewer than seven individuals have died and numerous others are lost after a vessel ferrying around two hundred people seeking to enter European shores overturned in waters near The Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for other passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants attempting to get to Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals have died trying.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy initiated a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The deceased of the seven people who drowned have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are described as being in serious condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through hazardous voyages by sea and land.
In recent years, the European Union has forged deals with a number of North African nations designed to limiting illegal migration.
