At least seven individuals have perished and many others remain unaccounted for following a vessel carrying approximately two hundred people seeking to enter European shores overturned near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.
96 individuals were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for those still missing who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants seeking entry into European nations.
Nearly 47,000 individuals reached the Spanish archipelago in last year and estimates more than nine thousand individuals have died in the attempt.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, The Gambian Navy launched a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes taken by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on dangerous journeys over water and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has forged deals with several North African countries with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
