No fewer than seven souls lost their lives and a significant number are lost after a craft ferrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to European shores capsized near the shoreline of The Gambia, officials state.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
96 individuals were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants trying to reach the EU.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search operation, involving several naval vessels and a fishing boat that came to assist, the military said.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who died have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants trying to reach the EU, typically through dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with several North African nations designed to curtailing undocumented migration.
