🔗 Share this article Numerous People Unaccounted For After Vessel Carrying 200 Migrants Capsizes near the coast of Gambia. Authorities located the stricken boat beached on a sandbar, authorities say. At least seven individuals have died and a significant number remain unaccounted for following a craft transporting about two hundred people attempting to reach European shores sank near the shoreline of the Gambian coast, authorities say. The craft flipped late Wednesday night near Jinack village in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities announced officially. 96 individuals have been rescued so far and a rescue operation continues for the remaining passengers who were on board the capsized craft that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain. The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has emerged as a rising pathway for migrants from Africa attempting to get to Europe. Almost 47,000 people made it to the Canaries in last year and estimates over 9,000 migrants have died trying. Search and Rescue Efforts Following the Wednesday incident, Gambia's naval forces initiated a rescue mission, involving several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed. Authorities say some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified. The deceased of the seven victims who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention. An Established Corridor The Gambia is a frequent corridor taken by migrants seeking to get to European countries, frequently via perilous trips across ocean and terrain. Over the past few years, the European bloc has forged deals with a number of Maghreb states with the goal of limiting illegal migration.