Spanish police believe the suspected migrants are of north African origin, and may have drowned while trying to reach Spain in a boat. Their bodies have been taken for autopsies to determine the cause of death.
Spanish police announced on Monday (August 29) they found the corpses of seven suspected migrants on the country's southeastern Mediterranean coast. Police said they believe they may have drowned while trying to reach Spain in an unseaworthy boat.
"The Civil Guard pulled out seven lifeless bodies off Alicante and Murcia" after spotting them "floating in the sea on Sunday afternoon August 28 and the morning of Monday 29th," the police statement read.
The bodies were taken for autopsies to determine the cause of death, police said, adding that they believe the seven were of north African origin.
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Spain records 16,000 migrant arrivals
Police are also investigating whether the migrants had been in the same boat found adrift on Saturday with one male migrant alive on board, news agencies AFP and AP reported. The man was rescued slightly further up the coast after he tried to reach Spain on a boat six meters long and without a motor.
Spain has registered a total of 16,378 migrants arriving by sea between January 1 to August 15 this year, according to AFP.
Thousands of migrants from northwestern and sub-Saharan African countries try to reach Spain by boat every year, with many losing their lives at sea in the attempt. The shortest crossing route to Spain is from the Moroccan coast to the Canaries at around 100 kilometers. The distance from the coast of Mauritania to mainland Spain is over 2,000 kilometers.
With AFP and AP