At least seven souls have perished and a significant number are lost after a craft carrying about 200 people seeking to enter Europe capsized off the coast of Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday close to the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.
Close to 47,000 individuals reached the Canaries in last year and data indicates more than 9,000 people have died trying.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that offered help, the defense officials reported.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven victims who perished at sea were found, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to the EU, frequently via perilous trips across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the EU has reached agreements with a number of Maghreb states aimed at limiting irregular migration.
