Scores Missing After Craft Transporting 200 Migrants Capsizes in waters off The Gambia.
No fewer than seven people lost their lives and many others are missing in the wake of a craft carrying approximately two hundred migrants seeking to enter Europe overturned off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants seeking entry into the EU.
Close to 47,000 people reached the Canary Islands in last year and figures suggest more than 9,000 migrants have died trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces launched a search-and-rescue operation, using several naval vessels and a fishing boat that offered help, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven individuals who perished at sea have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
The Gambia is a frequent corridor used by migrants seeking to get to European countries, frequently via dangerous journeys over water and land.
In recent years, the EU has forged deals with several North African nations designed to reducing undocumented migration.
