Numerous People Unaccounted For After Vessel Transporting 200 Migrants Goes Down near the coast of Gambia.

At least seven people have perished and many others are missing after a craft transporting around 200 migrants seeking to enter Europe overturned near the shoreline of The Gambia, authorities say.

The craft flipped on Wednesday midnight in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release.

Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.

The hazardous trip over the Atlantic Ocean has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.

Nearly 47,000 individuals arrived at the Canaries in last year and estimates in excess of 9,000 people have lost their lives during the journey.

Ongoing Mission

After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy launched a rescue mission, deploying several naval vessels and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defence ministry reported.

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

The bodies of the seven victims who drowned have been recovered, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in grave health and receiving urgent medical care.

A Frequent Pathway

The Gambia is a common pathway taken by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on perilous trips across ocean and terrain.

In recent years, the European bloc has reached agreements with several North African countries aimed at reducing undocumented migration.