Fourteen passengers are confirmed to have died when a small boat thought to be carrying 71 illegal immigrants sank in the Alborán Sea. Eighteen passengers were rescued but the remainder are still missing.
The nine-metre boat set off from Nador in Morocco with, it is believed, 71 people on board. It was spotted, semi-submerged, by a Marine Rescue plane which dropped a liferaft. The Marine Rescue vessel ‘Hamal’ arrived on the scene to assist those in the water.
Marine Rescue, Guardia Civil and Moroccan patrol boats all participated in a search for the missing passengers.