Numerous People Lost After Craft Carrying 200 Asylum Seekers Sinks off Gambia.
No fewer than seven souls lost their lives and a significant number are missing after a boat carrying about 200 people trying to get to European shores sank in waters near The Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
96 individuals have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers seeking entry into Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canaries in last year and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 migrants have died during the journey.
Ongoing Mission
After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, using several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the military reported.
Officials state a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.
An Established Corridor
This West African nation is a frequent corridor utilized by migrants seeking to get to Europe, often on perilous trips over water and land.
Over the past few years, the EU has reached agreements with multiple Maghreb states aimed at limiting illegal migration.