The death toll from an unprecedented rush by tens of thousands of migrants to Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta has climbed by two to 80, legal authorities said on Thursday.
Many people drowned as they tried to swim around a barrier in the Mediterranean Sea from July 30 in scenes that sparked a rift between Spain and some EU nations demanding a tougher line on irregular immigration.
A Spanish legal body responsible for the identification work, composed of forensics and Civil Guard experts, said in a statement that Ceuta authorities had recovered 80 bodies from the sea since the incident.
Forensics experts had carried out 80 autopsies out of a total of 82 bodies, two of which were found before the surge, and identified four people, the statement added.
Autopsies on the two latest corpses would be performed on Friday.
Morocco’s interior ministry has said 11 people died on the Moroccan side of the border, all but one by drowning.
Spain says 70,000 of the 72,000 people who reached Ceuta have returned to Morocco.
Those who remain — including hundreds of unaccompanied children — face squalid living conditions with limited access to shelter, food, water and sanitation, AFP reporters in Ceuta saw.
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