4 migrants who were pushed out of a boat die just yards from Spain’s southern coast

Advertisement

Advertise with us

MADRID (AP) — Four migrants have died close to shore in southern Spain after being forced out of the boat they were traveling in, officials said Thursday.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/11/2023 (1034 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MADRID (AP) — Four migrants have died close to shore in southern Spain after being forced out of the boat they were traveling in, officials said Thursday.

The Spanish government press office in the southern province of Cadiz said that 31 other people from the boat, including six children, survived and four were taken to a hospital.

The press office said 27 passengers were forced out on Wednesday afternoon by those piloting the vessel near Camposoto beach, which is where the four died. Another eight were forced off close to another beach, it added.

Migrants are rescued by locals on the shore of a beach, close to the southwestern city of Cádiz, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Four migrants have died meters (yards) from shore in southern Spain after being forced out of the boat they were traveling in, officials said Thursday. The Spanish government press office in the southern province of Cádiz said 31 other people from the boat, including six children, survived the Wednesday afternoon incident and four were taken to a hospital. (AP Photo/Jorge Gonzalez Casares)
Migrants are rescued by locals on the shore of a beach, close to the southwestern city of Cádiz, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Four migrants have died meters (yards) from shore in southern Spain after being forced out of the boat they were traveling in, officials said Thursday. The Spanish government press office in the southern province of Cádiz said 31 other people from the boat, including six children, survived the Wednesday afternoon incident and four were taken to a hospital. (AP Photo/Jorge Gonzalez Casares)

A video shot by a man who works in the area showed migrants being pushed overboard from the boat and others in the choppy waters trying to swim to shore.

Javier González, who runs a nautical company, said that he and his son managed to rescue eight people. He said that they and other workers helped the migrants on the beach.

In a voice message to The Associated Press, González said that no police officers or marine rescue personnel took part in in the initial rescue.

The boat drivers sped off, the press office said. Police used drones to try to locate them but weren’t successful, the office said.

Officials said the migrants were from unspecified North African countries.

Smugglers sometimes force the migrants off the boats when approaching the Spanish coast so they can escape before police spot them.

Spain’s state news agency Efe said the boat used Wednesday is of a high-speed type normally used by drug traffickers between Spain and Morocco.

“They are unscrupulous people and, when you don’t have scruples, it doesn’t matter if what they have to throw overboard are bales of hashish or people,” Francisco Mena, president of the Campo de Gibraltar Alternative Anti-Drug Coordinator in Cadiz, told the agency.

Tens of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan countries try to reach Spain each year in large open boats launched from northwest Africa. Most go to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, while others try to cross the Mediterranean Sea to mainland Spain.

Several thousand are known to die making the hazardous journey.

___

Hernán Muñoz contributed to this report from Barcelona, Spain.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Report Error Submit a Tip

World

LOAD WORLD ARTICLES