🔗 Share this article Numerous People Lost After Craft Holding Two Hundred Migrants Capsizes off the Gambian coast. The shipwrecked vessel was found aground on a sandbank, officials report. A minimum of seven souls have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a craft transporting about 200 migrants attempting to reach Europe capsized near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, authorities say. The craft flipped late Wednesday night close to Jinack village in the North Bank Region and it was later found "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry said in a statement. Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands. The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa attempting to get to European nations. Close to 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canaries in the year 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 people have lost their lives during the journey. Search and Rescue Efforts In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, deploying a number of military boats and a fishing boat that offered help, the military reported. Authorities say several of the victims are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified. The remains of the seven people who perished at sea have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment. An Established Corridor This West African nation is one of the routes utilized by migrants trying to reach the EU, typically through perilous trips across ocean and terrain. Recently, the European Union has reached agreements with several Maghreb states with the goal of curtailing irregular migration.