A minimum of seven people have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a craft transporting around two hundred migrants seeking to enter European shores capsized off the coast of Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight near Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa attempting to get to European nations.
Almost 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and estimates in excess of 9,000 migrants have lost their lives trying.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces began a search operation, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials confirmed.
Officials state some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven victims who died were found, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway utilized by migrants trying to reach the EU, often on hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European bloc has established pacts with several North African countries with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.