GENEVA/RABAT: At least 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, he said.

A Moroccan official, asking not to be named, said 11 bodies had been recovered, adding that the dead were all migrants, not Moroccan nationals. </s> GENEVA/RABAT: At least 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Morocco's interior ministry gave lower figures, saying 31 people had been rescued and that 11 bodies had been recovered on Monday

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All migrants on board the boat came from sub-Saharan Africa, the ministry said in a statement, adding that investigations showed the organiser of the risky crossing was from Mali.

"The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors," Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters.

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation, Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders), he added.

Helena Manelo, founder of Caminando Fronteras, said the Spanish coast guard had called her early on Monday after being contacted by the captain of the boat whom they were unable to understand.

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"They were asking for help because their inflatable boat was damaged," the Morocco-based Spanish activist told Reuters.

Morocco and Spain cooperate closely at the security level to crack down on trafficking networks but they are not doing enough to save lives at sea, Manelo said.

In an incident on Oct. 26, the Moroccan navy fired at a speedboat carrying Moroccan migrants after it refused to stop, killing a young woman and injuring three migrants.

Commenting on that incident, Morocco's Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said the navy had not seen the migrants because they were hiding in the boat.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Zakia Abdennebi and Ahmed Eljechtimi; editing by William Maclean and Gareth Jones) </s> The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 2, 2018 1:38 PM

GENEVA/RABAT (Reuters) - At least 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency. Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors." The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, he said. A Moroccan official, asking not to be named, said 11 bodies had been recovered, adding that the dead were all migrants, not Moroccan nationals. Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox. </s> At least 34 refugees have drowned in a shipwreck along the western Mediterranean, the UN migration agency said, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Helena Maleno, a Morocco-based activist with Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, said on Tuesday that 34 of a total of 60 migrants died after authorities failed to respond to earlier reports of the incident.

"They had been asking for help for the past 24 hours but we let them die slowly," she posted on Twitter.

Joe Millman, a spokesperson of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters news agency that "the boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people on board. At least 34 people have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

A Moroccan official who wished to remain anonymous told Reuters that 11 bodies had been recovered so far, adding that none of the deceased were Moroccan nationals.

For the first time since the refugee crisis began in 2015, the Morocco to Spain route has become the most popular path for asylum seekers attempting to reach Europe's shores.

Up until September 10 this year, a total of 34,994 people made the perilous journey, dwarfing numbers for the Libya-Italy and Turkey-Greece routes with 20,210 and 20,827 respectively. This figure is also already treble that of 2017.

According to some reports, Moroccan authorities believe 50,000 migrants and refugees are currently based in Tangier and its surrounding area. </s> GENEVA – Some 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Joel Millman, spokesperson of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: “The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors.”

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental oragnisation Caminando Fronteras, he said. </s> GENEVA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Some 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental oragnisation Caminando Fronteras, he said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by William Maclean) </s> Three men rescued but 49 missing after boat from Morocco sinks near Spain's Alboran Island, coastguards say.

Almost 50 migrants are feared dead after their rubber boat sank in the Alboran Sea in the Mediterranean, Spanish coastguards said.

Three "exhausted and disorientated" people were rescued from the deflated rubber boat on Tuesday that is believed to have left Morocco with 52 people aboard.

The "half-sunk" boat was spotted around 50km southwest of Spain's Alboran Island, which lies in the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean.

When asked if the 49 people left unaccounted drowned, a spokeswoman for the coastguards told AFP news agency: "We suppose".

Rescue workers were searching for survivors in the water near the Spanish island.

The three rescued men, aged 17 to 25 from sub-Saharan Africa, "explained that more than 50 people were on-board the rubber boat which had been drifting for several days after leaving the northern coast of Morocco", the coastguards said in a statement.

The three people were taken to hospital in Almeria in southern Spain after suffering from dehydration.

If the missing 49 are confirmed dead, this will be the deadliest sea crossing in the western part of the Mediterranean this year.

So far, 60 migrants have died trying to cross the waters to Spain from North Africa since January, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The UN's migration agency said 6,464 people reached Spain after crossing the Mediterranean between January 1 and June 25 this year.

In total, at least 2,247 people have died or are missing after trying to cross the sea into Europe via Spain, Italy or Greece this year, the IOM said. </s> At least 46 migrants drown off Tunisia; 9 killed off Turkey

MADRID (AP) — A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defense ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defense ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> Image copyright Spain sea rescue Image caption Rescue services were searching for more survivors off the island of Alborán

Around 50 migrants are feared to have drowned in waters off the Moroccan coast, the Spanish coastguard has said.

Rescue services managed to retrieve three "exhausted and disorientated" men from a half-sunk rubber dinghy near Spain's Alborán Island.

It is believed many more were originally on board.

A coastguard spokeswoman said they had likely drowned, adding that rescuers were still surveying the water where the boat was found.

The survivors are aged between 17 and 25, and from sub-Saharan Africa. They have been taken to hospital in Almería, southern Spain.

The coastguard said in a statement that the boat "had been drifting for several days after leaving the northern coast of Morocco".

If the missing are confirmed dead, this will be the deadliest sea crossing of 2017 in this part of the Mediterranean.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IMO), 6,464 people reached Spain after crossing the Mediterranean between 1 January and 25 June 2017.

A further 60 died while attempting the journey.

The IMO says they are among at least 2,247 people who have died or are missing after trying to cross the sea into Europe via Spain, Italy or Greece this year.
Thirty-four migrants drown in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean Sea. The Moroccan Navy rescues 26 survivors and recovers 11 bodies.