Scores Unaccounted For After Vessel Transporting 200 Migrants Capsizes off the Gambian coast.

At least seven souls have perished and a significant number are missing following a boat carrying approximately 200 migrants trying to get to European shores overturned in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.

The boat overturned on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry said in a statement.

Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were traveling on the capsized craft that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.

The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African migrants attempting to get to the EU.

Almost forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Spanish archipelago in 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 migrants have died during the journey.

Ongoing Mission

In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a search-and-rescue operation, using multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that offered help, the military confirmed.

Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified.

The remains of the seven victims who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are said to be in serious condition and receiving urgent medical care.

An Established Corridor

This West African nation is one of the routes taken by asylum seekers trying to reach the EU, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.

Recently, the EU has reached agreements with several Maghreb states aimed at limiting illegal migration.