At least seven people lost their lives and a significant number are lost after a boat carrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to the European continent sank near the shoreline of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach European nations.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and data indicates over 9,000 migrants have lost their lives trying.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy initiated a rescue mission, using several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defence ministry reported.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who died were found, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
Gambia is a frequent corridor utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, often on perilous trips over water and land.
In recent years, the EU has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states designed to curtailing illegal migration.
