According to AFP, Moroccan online news agency Hespress reported that 45 passengers on board the boat were trying to reach the Spanish coastal town of Las Palmas when their vessel hit a rock.
Moroccan Arabic websites went on to report that 24 people on board the boat were rescued, including a teenage girl, a woman's body was found among the dead, but eight passengers were missing.
AFP contacted Moroccan authorities to confirm casualties, but there was no immediate comment on the crash.
Moroccan news service 2M reported that the unfortunate passengers used a boat for sea travel that could not handle the strong waves, causing the victims to succumb to the waves along with the boat itself.
Hespress News revealed in the report that a trip on such boats usually costs 20-25 thousand Moroccan dirhams, which is about 1900-2400 US dollars.
It should be noted that Morocco, located in the northwestern region of Africa, is considered by many immigrants as a corridor from which foreign travelers try to reach Europe from the shores of the Atlantic or the Mediterranean.
According to a recent report by the Spanish human rights group Frontline Defenders, more than 11,200 migrants have been killed or disappeared trying to reach Spain since 2018, an average of six a day.
The human rights group said 7,692 people had died traveling between Morocco and the Canary Islands.
It should be noted that the number of migrants clandestinely using the dangerous Atlantic migration route has increased since the end of 2019 as maritime patrols in the Mediterranean have intensified.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported on December 15 that this year 27,789 immigrants landed illegally on our soil, including 15,742 foreigners who arrived in the Canary Islands.
0 Comments