Several drown as hundreds of migrants rush to Spain’s Ceuta from Morocco

Hundreds of people were converging on Morocco’s northern town of Fnideq on Thursday evening, following rumours that the border with Spain’s Ceuta had opened, according to an AFP journalist.

Spain had earlier reported nine deaths after hundreds of migrants entered the north African exclave from Morocco, mainly by swimming.

Vehicles with young people packed the road around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Fnideq, which borders the Spain’s North African exclave Ceuta, while others walked in groups.

Several people told AFP that they wanted to reach Ceuta.

A young man with a backpack said he had come by foot from Tangier, around 70 kilometres west of Fnideq, “after having heard that the border had been opened at the Bab Sebta frontier post”.

Spanish authorities said hundreds of migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, joining the 1,500 who had done so in recent days.

Morocco’s authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the influx of people, but a Moroccan official source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the two countries had spoken about the matter.

“The two countries have agreed to strengthen coordination and efforts to deal with these flows, and have committed to reviewing and implementing measures for the repatriation, as soon as possible, of all people who entered Ceuta illegally,” the source said.

Migration from Morocco into Spain’s two north African territories, Ceuta and Melilla, has long been a politically sensitive issue between the two countries, as thousands cross the border at times.