Dozens Lost After Craft Holding 200 Migrants Capsizes near the coast of Gambia.
No fewer than seven souls have died and many others are missing in the wake of a craft ferrying around two hundred migrants seeking to enter Europe overturned off the coast of Gambia, officials state.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack village in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "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 other passengers who were traveling on the capsized craft that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for migrants from Africa attempting to get to Europe.
Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canary Islands in last year and estimates more than nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Rescue Operation
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the military confirmed.
Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.
The bodies of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, 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 a frequent corridor taken by migrants attempting to enter Europe, often on perilous trips by sea and land.
In recent years, the EU has established pacts with several North African nations aimed at reducing illegal migration.
