Dozens Lost Following Craft Holding 200 Migrants Goes Down off Gambia.
A minimum of seven souls have died and numerous others are missing in the wake of a craft ferrying about two hundred people attempting to reach Europe capsized in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants attempting to get to European nations.
Almost 47,000 individuals made it to the Canary Islands in last year and data indicates more than nine thousand individuals have lost their lives during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Following the Wednesday incident, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials said.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The deceased of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a frequent corridor taken by migrants seeking to get to Europe, often on perilous trips by sea and land.
Over the past few years, the EU has established pacts with several North African nations designed to limiting illegal migration.
