One survivor told the NGO that 58 people were on the boat
RABAT, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 18 migrants are missing since the sinking of the vessel they were travelling in off the coast of Tarfaya, in the far south of Morocco, after an unsuccessful attempt to reach the Canary Islands.
Helena Maleno, the spokeswoman for the collective for the defence of migrants Caminando Fronteras, warned that the vessel capsized due to the waves on Wednesday, near the beach of Tarfaya, in a “rocky area where the ocean crashes heavily with a force.”
One survivor told Caminando Fronteras that 58 people were on the boat, including 16 women and a three-year-old boy.
“The sea hit us again and again. We tried to get the engine to start, but it didn’t work. The waves took people away and one of them took my boy away from me,” described the survivor, mother of the three-year-old child who was in the vessel, according to Maleno.
Another survivor told the non-governmental organization (NGO) that some survivors called his embassy, which in turn contacted the Royal Moroccan Guard, which detained those who survived.
The Moroccan authorities have so far not commented on what has happened, and it is likely that they will not, since, in most cases, these accidents occur without official communication. — NNN-AGENCIES
