No fewer than seven souls have perished and numerous others are lost in the wake of a boat carrying approximately 200 migrants seeking to enter Europe sank near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe.
Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and estimates over 9,000 migrants have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
Following the Wednesday incident, The Gambian Navy launched a search-and-rescue operation, deploying a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The remains of the seven victims who perished at sea have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Common Migration Route
This West African nation is one of the routes used by migrants attempting to enter the EU, typically through hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with multiple North African nations with the goal of curtailing illegal migration.
