No fewer than seven souls have died and numerous others are missing in the wake of a boat carrying around 200 migrants attempting to reach Europe overturned near the shoreline of The Gambia, authorities say.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night near Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were aboard the sunken boat that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Nearly 47,000 people made it to the Spanish archipelago in last year and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have lost their lives trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces initiated a search-and-rescue operation, deploying a number of military boats and a fishing boat that came to assist, the defense officials reported.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven people who drowned have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes taken by migrants trying to reach the EU, frequently via perilous trips over water and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has established pacts with a number of North African countries with the goal of curtailing irregular migration.
