Numerous People Missing Following Boat Carrying Two Hundred Asylum Seekers Capsizes off Gambia.
No fewer than seven people have died and numerous others are lost after a craft transporting about 200 people seeking to enter European shores overturned in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was subsequently discovered "stranded on a sandbar", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.
Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were on board the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Nearly 47,000 people reached the Canaries in last year and figures suggest more than 9,000 people have lost their lives in the attempt.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy initiated a search operation, using multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that joined the effort, the defence ministry reported.
Officials state some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven victims who perished at sea were found, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in grave health and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway used by migrants seeking to get to the EU, typically through dangerous journeys over water and land.
Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with several North African countries with the goal of curtailing irregular migration.
