No fewer than seven people have died and a significant number are missing following a craft transporting approximately 200 people seeking to enter the European continent capsized off the coast of Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned late Wednesday night close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were traveling on the capsized craft that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 people reached the Canaries in last year and data indicates over nine thousand individuals have died during the journey.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.
Authorities say some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven individuals who drowned have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is one of the routes utilized by asylum seekers seeking to get to Europe, frequently via perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European bloc has established pacts with a number of North African countries with the goal of reducing illegal migration.
