RABAT: Morocco’s navy on Saturday found the bodies of 15 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa on board a boat stranded at sea for days and rescued 53 survivors, a military source said.
Coast Guards recovered “15 lifeless corpses” from the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea after it was left drifting for four days following engine failure on its way to Spain, the source said.
The 53 other survivors on board, including eight women, were taken to the port of Nador.
Increasing numbers of Moroccans and sub-Saharan migrants are seeking to enter Spain, either by sea or by smuggling themselves into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which are in Morocco and are the only European territories in Africa.
The International Organization for Migration says that some 51,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea this year, and that over 630 have died or gone missing trying.
On Friday the Moroccan navy said it rescued 289 migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan African off Nador.
Moroccan authorities say that between January and the end of September they stopped some 68,000 illegal attempts to cross into Europe and took down 122 people smuggling gangs.
Morocco navy finds 15 migrants dead in stranded boat
Morocco navy finds 15 migrants dead in stranded boat
- Coast Guards recovered “15 lifeless corpses” from the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea after it was left drifting for four days
- The 53 other survivors on board, including eight women, were taken to the port of Nador
Syria says 120 Daesh detainees escaped prison; Kurdish website said 1,500 escaped
- The Syrian ministry said Syrian army units and ministry special forces entered Shaddadi following the breakout
CAIRO: Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Daesh detainees escaped from Shaddadi prison, after the Kurdish website Rudaw reported that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1,500 Daesh members had escaped.
The Syrian ministry said Syrian army units and ministry special forces entered Shaddadi following the breakout. It said security forces had recaptured 81 of the escapees after search and sweep operations in the town and surrounding areas, with efforts continuing to arrest the remaining fugitives.
Earlier, the Syrian army said “a number of” Daesh militants had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the SDF of releasing them.
After days of fighting with government forces, the SDF agreed on Sunday to withdraw from both Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, two Arab-majority provinces they had controlled for years and the location of Syria’s main oil fields.
