Estimated 22 Migrants Declared Missing Off Morocco Sea Shore

Twenty-two migrants have gone missing within the waters off Morocco’s seashore when their boat capsized, state

news agency MAP reported.

Three people, all with Moroccan position, managed to swim to shore and alert the authorities when the vessel hit bother off the southern province of Tiznit, the outlet said.

It failed to provide the nationalities of the others on board the boat and said an investigation had been opened into the incident.

Local media said the migrants had been progressing to reach the Canary Islands about one hundred kilometres (62 miles) west of the Moroccan coast.

The Spanish territory was a key destination throughout the mid-2000s for migrants seeking to achieve the European Union from North Africa.

The number of individuals creating the journey within the Atlantic has since dropped, with more currently attempting to cross to European country via the Mediterranean Sea to the north.

Moroccan authorities say that between January and the end of September they stopped some sixty eight thousand illegal attempts to cross into Europe and took down 122 people-smuggling gangs.

The International Organization for migration says that some 50,500 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea this year, which 566 have died or gone missing attempting.