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> 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. </s> AROUND 50 migrants are feared dead after Spanish coastguards rescued three men from a ‘hulf sunk’ rubber boat yesterday.

If the missing are confirmed dead, it will be the deadliest sea crossing in that part of the Mediterranean so far this year.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish coastguards told AFP that ‘we suppose’ the migrants have drowned.

She added that crews were still searching for potential survivors in the seas near Alboran Island.

The rubber boat was discovered some 50km southwest of the island, which lies in the westernmost point of the Mediterranean.

The surviving men, all under the age of 25 and from sub-Sahara Africa, said there were more than 50 people on the boat, which had drifted for several days after leaving Morocco.

They were taken to hospital in Almeria.

Some 60 migrants have died so far this year trying to reach Spain. </s> MADRID: The Spanish coast guard rescued three men on Tuesday from a half-sunk dinghy stranded in the Mediterranean, after a two-day search for a boat that had left Morocco with 52 people on board.

The rescued men, all from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, said the rubber boat had been drifting since it set off from Morocco's northern coast, the coast guard said in a statement.

The statement said an informant had alerted the coast guard on Sunday that a boat had left from near Al Hoceima in Morocco, and that the area had been searched non-stop since then.

The coast guard said it was likely that the boat they had found was the same one they were looking for.

A helicopter transferred the three men, a 17-year-old and two 25-year-olds, to the Spanish port of Almeria, where medical services were treating them. </s> File Migrants wait to disembark from the Spanish ship 'Rio Segura' in the harbor of Salerno, Italy, Thursday, June 29, 2017. Over 1200 migrants, including children, were rescued while attempting to cross the Mediterranean. | AP

MADRID: Around 50 migrants are missing and feared drowned at sea, Spanish coastguards said Tuesday, after they rescued three "exhausted and disorientated" men from a rubber boat that had initially held many more people.

"We suppose" that they drowned, a spokeswoman for the coastguards told AFP, adding however that rescue forces were still surveying the seas near Spain's Alboran Island where the boat was found drifting, to try and find any survivors.

If the missing are confirmed dead, this will be the deadliest sea crossing in this part of the Mediterranean since the start of the 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 "half-sunk" boat was spotted around 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of Alboran Island, which lies in the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean.

The survivors, three 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.

They were taken to hospital in Almeria in southern Spain, and are still too weak to tell a detailed story of what happened, the spokeswoman said.

According to the IOM, 6,464 people reached Spain after crossing the Mediterranean between January 1 and June 25.

Altogether, 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 says. </s> MADRID -- 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 defence 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 defence 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> The Spanish coast guard rescued three men on Tuesday from a half-sunk dinghy stranded in the Mediterranean, after a two-day search for a boat that had left Morocco with 52 people on board. The rescued men, all from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, said the rubber boat had been drifting since it set off from Morocco's northern coast, the coast guard said in a statement.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters. </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> MADRID (AP) — Spain’s maritime rescue service says at least 17 people have died trying to reach Spain in boats departing from North Africa.

The service says Tuesday that it rescued 80 people Monday, including five women, from two boats and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean migrant route into Europe. They were all transferred to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which borders Morocco.

In a separate incident, the Spanish Civil Guard says it found four bodies of migrants and 22 survivors, all men from northern Africa, after the wooden dinghy in which they were travelling hit a reef close to the coast west of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The U.N. says over 2,160 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.
Approximately fifty migrants are feared drowned off the coast of Morocco. Three men were rescued near Alboran Island near the coast of Spain.