🔗 Share this article Scores Unaccounted For After Boat Holding 200 Asylum Seekers Goes Down near the coast of Gambia. The shipwrecked vessel was found aground on a sandbank, authorities say. A minimum of seven people have perished and numerous others remain unaccounted for in the wake of a boat carrying about two hundred people attempting to reach European shores overturned off the coast of the Gambian coast, officials state. The vessel capsized in the early hours of Thursday near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry stated in a release. Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were on board the capsized craft that was heading towards the Canary Islands of Spain. The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa trying to reach European nations. Almost 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and figures suggest in excess of 9,000 people have lost their lives trying. Ongoing Mission In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, involving several naval vessels and a fishing boat that joined the effort, the defense officials reported. Officials state several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified. The deceased of the seven individuals who drowned have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment. A Frequent Pathway The Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants trying to reach Europe, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain. Over the past few years, the European Union has established pacts with several Maghreb states with the goal of curtailing irregular migration.