Scores Unaccounted For After Boat Transporting Two Hundred Migrants Goes Down near the coast of The Gambia.

A minimum of seven people have perished and many others are lost in the wake of a vessel carrying about 200 migrants attempting to reach European shores overturned off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm.

The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.

Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the sunken boat that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.

The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa seeking entry into the EU.

Almost forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canary Islands in the year 2024 and data indicates over nine thousand individuals have lost their lives trying.

Rescue Operation

Following the Wednesday incident, the navy launched a rescue mission, using a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials reported.

Officials state several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.

The deceased of the seven people who died have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in serious condition and getting immediate medical attention.

A Common Migration Route

This West African nation is a frequent corridor utilized by migrants seeking to get to European countries, frequently via hazardous voyages by sea and land.

Over the past few years, the European bloc has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states designed to curtailing undocumented migration.