Ceuta: Chaos at Spain border as vehicles torched and thousands of migrants rush from Morocco
Thousands of migrants streamed into the Moroccan town of Fnideq near the border with Ceuta overnight, despite a deployment of security that foiled most attempts to cross into the Spanish enclave.
Spanish Interior Ministry said 18 people died on Thursday trying to enter Ceuta in North Africa, as migrants rushed by sea and land from Morocco.
Local media report between 2,000 and 3,000 people crossed into Ceuta on Thursday.
Spain sent military and police reinforcements to Ceuta on Thursday after the surge.
Ceuta, along with Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern Morocco, represents the European Union’s only land border with Africa. Both cities periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe.
Spanish state television TVE said between 2,000 and 3,000 people crossed into Ceuta on Thursday. Most of those who succeeded in crossing appeared to have done so before midday, according to residents of Fnideq.
Spain sent military and police reinforcements to Ceuta after the surge, while authorities in the enclave said nine bodies had been retrieved.
Although the border crossing appeared blocked, groups of migrants moved along the coast seeking routes around the fence and some prepared to swim. “I was late,” said Brahim, 32, who gave only one name. He said he had arrived from Tangier hoping to cross through the gate but found it effectively shut.
Among those hoping to cross into the enclave of 85,000 were women and children as well from Morocco and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Moroccan authorities deployed water cannon trucks and reinforced security at the crossing-gates, repeatedly pushing back migrants attempting to approach.
Nearby stood the charred remains of a bus and seven vehicles, left after clashes that erupted as authorities sought to stop the crowds, according to Reuters witnesses.
Another migrant said he had been caught in a stampede during an attempted crossing.
“I feared for my life,” said the migrant, who declined to give his name, as he described chaotic scenes of people pushing and stepping on one another along a narrow coastal route.
Traffic clogged roads into Fnideq as would-be migrants, including minors, continued to arrive. Some trudged along the highway into the city late into the night, while others took mountain paths to avoid checkpoints.
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