Numerous People Missing After Boat Transporting 200 Migrants Sinks in waters off the Gambian coast.

No fewer than seven souls lost their lives and many others remain unaccounted for in the wake of a craft transporting approximately two hundred people attempting to reach the European continent sank near the shoreline of Gambia, authorities say.

The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was subsequently discovered "beached on a shoal", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.

Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to Spain's Canary Islands.

The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.

Almost forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Spanish archipelago in last year and data indicates over 9,000 people perished trying.

Search and Rescue Efforts

Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces launched a search operation, using multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials reported.

Reports indicate several of the victims are not Gambian nationals and that their details are still being checked.

The remains of the seven individuals who drowned were found, and ten of the survivors are said to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.

A Frequent Pathway

This West African nation is a frequent corridor taken by migrants trying to reach Europe, often on hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.

In recent years, the European Union has established pacts with multiple North African nations with the goal of curtailing irregular migration.