One migrant died and 19 others were injured when a boat sank on Wednesday south of Mallorca, in the archipelago of Spain's Balearic Islands, after drifting for six days. One of those injured is in critical condition while three others are still missing.
Giving the alarm was a migrant rescued by a private vessel on Wednesday morning (August 20), around 10:30 am off Mallorca, according to the prefect's office of the Balearic Islands. The man was transferred to Porto Petro, where he received healthcare assistance and told rescuers that he had survived a shipwreck of the boat on which he had been travelling alongside 23 people of sub-Saharan origins that had been left drifting for six days.
Search operations began immediately afterwards for the boat, which was located by Guardia Civil boats shortly before 2 pm, three miles south of Mallorca.
Seven people were rescued at sea, while on the wreck of the boat itself, a total of 12 survivors and one corpse were found. The 19 survivors were assisted by emergency services, which transferred three of those injured -- a 21-year-old young man and two young women, aged 19 and 28 -- to the Manacor hospital. A 30-year-old man in critical condition was taken to the Son Espasa university hospital.
Searches continue at sea by the Guardia Civil for three migrants still missing, while the Balearic Islands authorities have mobilised to deal with the large arrival of migrants in the archipelago, where over a thousand people arrived in the past week alone.
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Corpse of migrant who died trying to swim to Ceuta recovered
Attempted migration has resulted in the death of another person in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, as well. The corpse of a young man of Moroccan origins was recovered on Wednesday morning by Guardia Civil on a beach near the Desnarigado castle. The young man allegedly drowned during an attempt to swim from the Moroccan coast to the Spanish enclave. He was wearing a diving suit and fins and had tied a pair of running shoes to his waist, according to the Guardia Civil, which is trying to identify him.
The officers say that this corpse may have been transported by sea waves. The zone is well known for brutal methods used by traffickers, who often throw migrants into the sea after transporting them on boats or other watercraft, as a way of evading border control.
He would thus be the fourth migrant who drowned while trying to swim to the Spanish coasts since the beginning of August, when migration pressure increased on the Spanish enclave.
According to the latest figures from the Spanish interior ministry, in the first half of August, some 269 people irregularly entered Ceuta. However, the real number is likely to be much higher due those who manage to avoid being intercepted by the police.
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