MADRID (AFP) — At least 20 African migrants are thought to have died at sea while trying to reach Spain by boat, local government officials and the Red Cross said Tuesday, citing survivors of the trip.
A boat which patrolled the waters between Malaga and Melilla, a Spanish enclave on Morocco's northern coast, rescued 25 people from the half-submerged vessel late on Monday, a spokeswoman for the government in Malaga told AFP.
"They said there were 50 on the ship," she said, adding that several survivors were injured, had a fever or were suffering from hypothermia.
The Red Cross meanwhile said the survivors gave differing accounts of how many people were on the boat but it appears that at least 20 passengers are missing.
Spanish media, citing rescue workers, said survivors had said up to 60 people were on board the boat, which would mean as many as 35 people are missing.
The survivors were picked up in the Mediterranean just south of Spain's Almeria province and taken to the southern port of Malaga at around 11:30 pm (2130 GMT) on Monday.
Spain has been a magnet in recent years for African migrants aspiring to reach Europe.
Migrants traditionally attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to get to the Spanish mainland but a crackdown there has led traffickers to increasingly use longer and more dangerous routes, including to Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic.
A total of 921 would-be illegal immigrants died at sea from thirst, hunger or exposure, or in boat accidents, as they tried to reach Spain last year, according to a tally by the Organisation for Human Rights in Andalusia (APDH-A), a Spanish humanitarian group.
During the first seven months of this year, 7,165 migrants reached Spain by boat, a 9.1 percent drop over the same period last year, and a 58.9 percent decline over 2006, according to interior ministry figures.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
