🔗 Share this article Scores Unaccounted For Following Craft Carrying 200 Migrants Capsizes near the coast of the Gambian coast. The shipwrecked vessel was found beached on a sandbar, officials report. At least seven individuals have died and many others are lost following a vessel ferrying approximately two hundred migrants seeking to enter Europe sank off the coast of the Gambian coast, authorities say. The vessel capsized in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities announced officially. Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the sunken boat that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands. The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers attempting to get to Europe. Close to 47,000 people arrived at the Canary Islands in 2024 and estimates over 9,000 people have died during the journey. Rescue Operation In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing boat that offered help, the military confirmed. Authorities say several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked. The remains of the seven people who drowned were found, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment. An Established Corridor This West African nation is one of the routes used by migrants attempting to enter European countries, often on hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain. Recently, the European Union has established pacts with several Maghreb states aimed at reducing irregular migration.