At least seven individuals have perished and many others are lost in the wake of a vessel carrying about 200 people trying to get to European shores sank in waters near the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight near Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for those still missing who were aboard the capsized craft that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants attempting to get to the EU.
Nearly 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in last year and data indicates over 9,000 migrants have died in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces launched a search-and-rescue operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defence ministry said.
Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is one of the routes used by migrants trying to reach European countries, often on hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with several Maghreb states aimed at limiting irregular migration.
