No fewer than seven individuals have died and a significant number are missing after a vessel carrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to European shores capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities stated in a release.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa attempting to get to European nations.
Almost forty-seven thousand migrants reached the Canaries in last year and data indicates in excess of 9,000 migrants perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a search operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their details are still being checked.
The remains of the seven individuals who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are reported to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
The Gambia is one of the routes taken by migrants trying to reach European countries, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Recently, the EU has forged deals with multiple North African nations with the goal of limiting illegal migration.
