A minimum of seven individuals lost their lives and a significant number remain unaccounted for following a boat carrying approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to European shores sank near the shoreline of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night near Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was later found "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals have lost their lives during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces began a search operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.
Officials state a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in serious condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a common pathway taken by migrants attempting to enter European countries, often on dangerous journeys by sea and land.
In recent years, the EU has established pacts with a number of North African nations designed to curtailing undocumented migration.
