RABAT: The bodies of five migrants were found on Morocco’s Atlantic coast near Casablanca on Monday, bringing to 12 the number killed when their boat capsized on Saturday, the state news agency reported.
On Saturday, authorities said seven Moroccan citizens had died and three were taken to hospital unconscious, reflecting a growing trend in illegal migration to Spain along the Atlantic coast after a crackdown on routes across the Mediterranean.
Morocco is located only 14 km (8.5 miles) south of Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar, and it shares land borders with the small Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.
Moroccan authorities say they stopped 57,000 migrants illegally crossing to Spain during the first eight months of this year.
Figures released by the International Organization for Migration show arrivals to Spain by sea more than halved from Jan. 1 to Sept. 18 from the previous year to 16,894.
Spain last month approved 32.2 million euros ($35.2 million) in aid to Morocco to combat illegal migration. The European Union has also promised 140 million euros in border management aid.
Five more migrant bodies found from Morocco capsizing
Five more migrant bodies found from Morocco capsizing
- Authorities said seven Moroccan citizens had died and three were taken to hospital unconscious
- Morocco is located only 14 km (8.5 miles) south of Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar
Helicopter crashes in Libya during medical evacuation, killing 3
- The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash
TRIPOLI: A helicopter has crashed in southeastern Libya, killing a medic and two crew members carrying out a medical evacuation, state media said Tuesday.
Libyan news agency LANA said the chopper went down overnight near an air base in the Kufra region about 60 kilometers north of the border between Libya and Chad.
The aircraft was attempting to evacuate a soldier who had been involved in a road accident in the desert, LANA said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known and it was unclear what happened to the injured soldier.
Libyan media reports said two foreign nationals were among those on board who were killed, but this was not confirmed by authorities.
The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash.
Libya remains split between the eastern administration and a UN-backed government in the west led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah. The LANA news agency is under the control of western authorities.
Libya has struggled to recover from chaos that erupted following a 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi.
