Four migrants have tragically lost their lives just meters from a beach in southern Spain after being forced off the boat they were traveling in, officials said on Thursday. According to the government’s press office in Cádiz, 31 people, including six minors, survived the incident on Wednesday afternoon, with four of them being hospitalized. Authorities stated that 27 people were forced to abandon the boat by those piloting it near Camposoto beach, where the four individuals lost their lives. Another eight were forced off near a different beach.
A distressing video captured by a man working in the area shows migrants being thrown overboard and others struggling in the rough waters as they attempted to swim to shore. Javier González, the manager of a nautical company, and his son managed to rescue eight people and, with the help of other workers, assisted the migrants in reaching the beach.
In a voice message to the Associated Press, González revealed that no police officers or coast guard personnel were involved in the initial rescue. The boat quickly departed, and despite efforts by the police to locate it using drones, they were unsuccessful. Officials stated that the migrants hailed from unspecified North African countries.
Traffickers often coerce migrants to jump into the water near the coast in order to avoid detection by the police. The boat used on Wednesday is reported to be a high-speed type, similar to those used by drug traffickers between Spain and Morocco. “They are unscrupulous people, and when you have no scruples, it makes no difference whether you have to throw drug bundles overboard or people,” commented Francisco Mena, president of the Coordinadora Antidroga Alternativas del Campo de Gibraltar.
Tens of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa attempt to reach Spain each year in large boats departing from the northwest of the continent. While most head for the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, others attempt to cross the Mediterranean to the mainland. It is known that many lose their lives in the attempt.
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Photo credit apnews.com
