No fewer than seven people lost their lives and a significant number are missing after a boat ferrying about two hundred migrants trying to get to European shores overturned in waters near The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants seeking entry into the EU.
Nearly 47,000 people reached the Spanish archipelago in last year and data indicates in excess of 9,000 migrants perished trying.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a search-and-rescue operation, using several naval vessels and a fishing boat that came to assist, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who drowned were found, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants attempting to enter Europe, frequently via perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has reached agreements with several Maghreb states designed to reducing irregular migration.
