Numerous People Unaccounted For Following Boat Transporting 200 Asylum Seekers Capsizes near the coast of Gambia.
No fewer than seven individuals lost their lives and numerous others remain unaccounted for following a boat carrying around two hundred migrants attempting to reach European shores capsized off the coast of The Gambia, officials state.
The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday near Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants seeking entry into European nations.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canaries in last year and data indicates in excess of 9,000 migrants have lost their lives during the journey.
Rescue Operation
After Wednesday's accident, the navy launched a search operation, deploying several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials said.
Reports indicate a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a common pathway taken by asylum seekers trying to reach the EU, frequently via dangerous journeys over water and land.
Recently, the EU has established pacts with multiple North African countries designed to curtailing illegal migration.
