🔗 Share this article Scores Missing After Craft Holding 200 Migrants Capsizes off the Gambian coast. Authorities located the stricken boat beached on a sandbar, authorities say. A minimum of seven people lost their lives and a significant number remain unaccounted for after a boat ferrying about 200 people seeking to enter the European continent capsized in waters near The Gambia, reports confirm. The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight close to the village of Jinack in the northern bank region and it was later found "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement. Nearly one hundred people have been saved to date and a search is continuing for other passengers who were on board the capsized craft that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands. The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants trying to reach European nations. Almost 47,000 individuals reached the Canaries in last year and data indicates more than 9,000 migrants have died during the journey. Rescue Operation After Wednesday's accident, the navy initiated a search-and-rescue operation, involving multiple navy ships and a fishing vessel that offered help, the defence ministry reported. Reports indicate a number of those who died are foreign nationals and that their details are still being checked. The bodies of the seven individuals who perished at sea have been retrieved, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment. A Common Migration Route This West African nation is a common pathway taken by asylum seekers trying to reach European countries, frequently via perilous trips over water and land. Recently, the EU has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states designed to reducing irregular migration.