🔗 Share this article Numerous People Missing Following Boat Transporting 200 Asylum Seekers Goes Down off the Gambian coast. The capsized craft was discovered stranded on a shoal, authorities say. At least seven individuals have perished and many others are lost in the wake of a craft carrying approximately two hundred people attempting to reach European shores capsized off the coast of The Gambia, reports confirm. The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the country's defence ministry announced officially. Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for the remaining passengers who were on board the capsized craft that was bound for Spain's Canary Islands. The perilous journey over the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU. Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canaries in the year 2024 and figures suggest over nine thousand individuals have lost their lives trying. Search and Rescue Efforts After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy initiated a search operation, using a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that offered help, the defence ministry said. Reports indicate some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their identities are still being verified. The bodies of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in grave health and receiving urgent medical care. A Frequent Pathway Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants seeking to get to Europe, frequently via dangerous journeys by sea and land. Recently, the European bloc has established pacts with several Maghreb states designed to curtailing irregular migration.