Numerous People Lost After Boat Transporting Two Hundred Asylum Seekers Goes Down near the coast of The Gambia.
No fewer than seven individuals have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a vessel ferrying approximately two hundred migrants seeking to enter the European continent sank near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
96 individuals were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants trying to reach the EU.
Close to 47,000 individuals reached the Canaries in last year and figures suggest more than 9,000 people have lost their lives in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
After Wednesday's accident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.
Officials state a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.
The remains of the seven victims who drowned have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are said to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
Gambia is a common pathway used by asylum seekers seeking to get to the EU, typically through perilous trips over water and land.
Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with multiple North African nations with the goal of reducing illegal migration.
