A minimum of seven people lost their lives and numerous others are missing after a vessel ferrying about 200 migrants seeking to enter the European continent overturned in waters near Gambia, officials state.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants seeking entry into European nations.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and data indicates over nine thousand individuals have lost their lives during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy initiated a search-and-rescue operation, deploying a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven people who perished at sea were found, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is one of the routes utilized by asylum seekers seeking to get to European countries, often on hazardous voyages over water and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has reached agreements with multiple North African countries designed to limiting undocumented migration.
