🔗 Share this article Scores Unaccounted For Following Boat Transporting Two Hundred Migrants Goes Down off Gambia. Authorities located the stricken boat beached on a sandbar, authorities say. No fewer than seven souls lost their lives and numerous others are lost following a vessel transporting approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to the European continent overturned in waters near The Gambia, officials state. The boat overturned late Wednesday night near Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was later found "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry stated in a release. Ninety-six people were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for other passengers who were on board the sunken boat that was bound for the Spanish Canary Islands. The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for African migrants attempting to get to European nations. Almost 47,000 people made it to the Canaries in last year and data indicates more than nine thousand individuals perished during the journey. Rescue Operation After Wednesday's accident, The Gambian Navy began a search operation, involving a number of military boats and a commercial fishing craft that came to assist, the defence ministry said. Reports indicate a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation. The deceased of the seven people who died have been retrieved, and a dozen of the saved are described as being in grave health and getting immediate medical attention. An Established Corridor Gambia is one of the routes utilized by migrants attempting to enter the EU, typically through hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain. Recently, the European bloc has established pacts with several North African countries aimed at reducing irregular migration.