UN migration agency says 34 migrants drown in Mediterranean shipwreck
Officials say the boat with 60 people aboard ran into trouble on Monday off the coast of Nador, Morocco. Bodies of 11 migrants were recovered and another 32 people rescued.
Migrants rest at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar, on July 24, 2018,
Some 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.
Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters, "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."
The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, he said.
"Thirty-two sub-Saharan Africans were saved and the bodies of 11 migrants were recovered," AFP quoting official sources said.
Spanish rights activist Helena Maleno tweeted, "34 dead, among them a baby, when a makeshift boat with 60 people on board sank ... off Morocco."
TRAGEDIA 📢 34 muertos, entre ellos un bebé, de la patera con 60 personas que antes de ayer se hundía frente a Marruecos. 24 horas estuvieron pidiendo auxilio y les dejaron morir lentamente. #FronteraSur
— Helena Maleno Garzón (@HelenaMaleno) October 2, 2018
Influx of migrants
Morocco has seen an influx of migrants trying to reach Europe, most of them on boats bound for Spain or via the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.
More than 40,000 migrants have reached Spain since the start of the year, including around 35,000 by sea, according to the IOM.
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