body-container-line-1

At least 6 migrants drown off Morocco coast: authorities

By AFP
Morocco The Guardia Civil patrol the maritime border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.  By Pierre-Philippe Marcou AFP
JAN 30, 2015 LISTEN
The Guardia Civil patrol the maritime border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. By Pierre-Philippe Marcou (AFP)

Rabat (AFP) - At least six would-be migrants drowned when their boat capsized near Melilla, the Spanish enclave in Morocco, authorities said Friday.

Another 10 people were rescued from the water after the boat overturned off the Moroccan town of Nador, five kilometres (three miles) from Melilla.

The vessel was said to be carrying 20 would-be migrants and two smugglers.

The flow of migrants hoping to reach Europe via Melilla and its sister enclave, Ceuta, swelled last year due to conflicts in Syria and Iraq as well as unrest in parts of north Africa, officials say.

In December, more than 100 migrants scaled a perimeter fence to enter Melilla.

The same month, nine people, including three babies, drowned when their boat capsized off the Moroccan city of Tangiers.

The number of undocumented migrants entering Melilla surged to more than 4,600 by year-end, compared with 3,000 in 2013, Spain's interior minister said.

body-container-line