Dozens Unaccounted For Following Craft Holding Two Hundred Migrants Sinks off the Gambian coast.
No fewer than seven individuals have perished and numerous others are lost in the wake of a vessel transporting about two hundred migrants trying to get to the European continent capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, officials state.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
96 individuals have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for the Canary Islands of Spain.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants attempting to get to European nations.
Nearly 47,000 people arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and figures suggest more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, The Gambian Navy launched a search operation, using multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and 10 of those rescued are reported to be in serious condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway utilized by asylum seekers seeking to get to Europe, frequently via hazardous voyages over water and land.
In recent years, the EU has reached agreements with several Maghreb states designed to reducing illegal migration.
