Seven sub-Saharan African migrants have drowned after their inflatable boat faced difficulties off Morocco’s coast on Monday, and 70 have been rescued, Trend reports citing XInhua.
A coast guard of the Moroccan Royal Navy discovered on Monday off the Northern city of Nador the corpses of seven sub-Saharan nationals, including three women, reported official news agency MAP quoting a military source.
Another 70 migrants, all from sub-Saharan African countries, were rescued after facing difficulties aboard an inflatable boat, it added.
The survivors, including 10 women and a baby who were in a poor health condition, received first aid aboard the coast guard unit, and were brought safe to the port of Nador, it said.
Morocco has become a hub for African migrants who seek to reach Europe for a better life. Thousands of migrants try to flee poverty and unrest in Africa each year through Morocco to Europe, either by land or by sea.
A total of 19,604 migrants had illegally reached the Spanish coasts until Oct. 14 this year, against 43,467 migrants during the same period in 2018, a drop of 54.9 percent, said a report by the Spanish Interior Ministry on illegal immigration in 2019.
