Four are now confirmed dead and 35 are still missing after the Spanish coastguard rescued migrants from a sinking boat off Morocco. The boat was spotted Thursday and Spain's Marine Rescue service could only confirm that 15 migrants were saved.
The boat full of migrants encountered trouble some 39 nautical miles north of Morocco and was on its way to Spain. The 15 rescued migrants include two women and 13 men who were found clinging to what was left of the boat, according to Hindustan Times. "One of the rescued women said the boat had lost its floor at around two in the morning, and many people who were travelling in it were lost," the Spanish coastguard was quoted as saying. The search resumed Friday for the missing migrants.
Aside from Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea is an important route for Middle Eastern migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Tens of thousands of Syrians cross the sea from North Africa in order to make it to Spain, Italy and Greece, WRAL reported.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has already blasted European governments for failing to address the worsening immigration crisis. After Thursday's catastrophe, he told the Greek Parliament that the Aegean is washing up not just dead children, but the very civilization of Europe largely due to the Western countries' military intervention in the Middle East. Five children and three others died after a wooden boat, crammed with 280 people, also sank Thursday, RTE reported.
