The bodies of at least 20 people have been pulled from the sea off the coast of Melilla, a small Spanish territory bordering Morocco.<\/p>\n
Moroccan rescue services recovered the corpses after the crew of a passenger ship spotted them in the water.<\/p>\n
The dead are believed to be migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n
It is thought they may have been hoping to reach Europe by trying to land in Melilla, despite storm warnings being issued for the region.<\/p>\n
Melilla, which is just 12 sq km (7 square miles), is a major crossing point for migrants seeking work or asylum in Europe.<\/p>\n
Together with a second Spanish enclave, Ceuta, it is the EU’s only land border with Africa.<\/p>\n
Spanish newspaper El Pais reports that the bodies were found floating around 6-8km from Melilla’s coast.<\/p>\n
The exact death toll has not yet been confirmed. Spanish rescue services resumed a search on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
The sea crossing between north Africa and southern Spain is increasingly favoured by migrants, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).<\/p>\n
So far in 2018, Spain has been the second most popular entry point for incomers to Europe. IOM figures say some 1,279 arrived there, while 4,256 went to Italy.<\/p>\n
Not including those recovered this weekend, 243 migrants have already died or gone missing this year after trying to cross the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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