Scores Lost Following Boat Carrying 200 Migrants Sinks off the Gambian coast.

At least seven individuals have died and numerous others remain unaccounted for after a boat ferrying about 200 migrants trying to get to Europe capsized in waters near the Gambian coast, authorities say.

The craft flipped in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "beached on a shoal", the Gambian military authorities announced officially.

Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a hunt is ongoing for the remaining passengers who were on board the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.

The dangerous voyage over the Atlantic Ocean has become an increasingly common route for African asylum seekers trying to reach European nations.

Nearly forty-seven thousand migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in last year and data indicates over 9,000 people have died in the attempt.

Ongoing Mission

After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy began a search operation, involving multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defence ministry confirmed.

Authorities say several of the victims are not from The Gambia and that their identities are still being verified.

The bodies of the seven people who perished at sea have been retrieved, and 10 of those rescued are said to be in critical condition and undergoing emergency treatment.

A Common Migration Route

The Gambia is one of the routes taken by migrants attempting to enter the EU, often on dangerous journeys across ocean and terrain.

Recently, the EU has established pacts with several Maghreb states designed to limiting irregular migration.