Five migrants died crossing to Melilla, Spain
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A crowd of 2,000 attempted to cross Morocco into the Spanish Melilla enclave.
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Migrants climb the fences separating Melilla from Morocco on June 24, 2022. (AP)
Five migrants were killed, in addition to dozens injured, as a huge crowd of 2,000 tried to cross from Morocco to Spain's Melilla enclave on Friday.
The migrants approached Melilla at dawn. About 500 managed to cross border control by cutting the fence with shears, according to a statement by the Spanish government's local delegation, adding that over the 130 sub-Saharan African migrants, "all of them men and apparently adults."
A Moroccan official from the nearby border town of Nador said that "five deaths were recorded after they stormed the border and some fell from the top of the barrier" separating the two sides.
The official said that 140 security personnel, in addition to 76 migrants were injured in the crossing attempt. The attempt is the first such mass incursion since Spain and Morocco ameliorated their diplomatic relations last month.
The Spanish government's local delegation said that 49 Spanish police officers were lightly injured, while 57 migrants sustained injuries in different levels. Three were sent to the hospital.
The Moroccan government, in turn, deployed several of its forces to deter the actions on the border. According to Rabat, they "cooperated actively" with Spain's security forces.
Spanish media exposed images of exhausted migrants on the sidewalk on Melilla, lying down with bloody hands and ripped-up clothes.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the "violent assault" which he blamed on "mafias who traffic in human beings".
