Four bodies found and 35 people missing after migrant boat sinks
Fifteen immigrants have been rescued at the scene by the Spanish coastguard The craft was trying to travel from Morocco to the Andalusian coast
At least 35 migrants, including a baby, have disappeared after the rickety boat in which they were attempting to cross from Morocco to the Andalusian coast sank, according to one of the people rescued from the craft.
Rescue teams have already found four bodies close to the area of the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning. Only 15 people are known to have survived the tragedy after they arrived in Málaga on Thursday afternoon. The remains of the boat were located by a rescue operation 39 nautical miles northwest of Al Hoceima, Morocco, on Thursday morning.
A Spanish vessel rescued 13 men and two women who had managed to cling on to the remains of the boat
A Spanish vessel rescued 13 men and two women who had managed to cling on to the remains of the boat at the scene of the incident. One of the survivors explained that the craft had fallen apart at around 2am and many of the reported 54 passengers aboard had drowned. “Many of the people who were traveling aboard sank and were lost in the sea,” the woman said.
The migrant boat had departed from the Al Hoceima coast on Wednesday and Spanish rescue services and a plane belonging to European border agency Frontex had begun searching for it following an alert from an NGO.
A rescue service boat and two helicopters are continuing to search for survivors.
English version by Nick Funnell.
