The number of migrants who died during a mass attempt to enter Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta has risen to 72, authorities have confirmed.
The Spanish government’s representative in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, announced on Sunday that five additional bodies had been recovered from the coastline, bringing the total number of fatalities to 72.
He added that more than 1,000 migrants were currently receiving medical care following the incident.
The deaths occurred after thousands of migrants attempted to cross into Ceuta from Morocco by land and sea on Thursday, with reports indicating that some drowned while swimming across, while others were killed in stampedes as they tried to scale border barriers and a breakwater.
Many of those involved were reportedly attempting to escape worsening economic conditions in Morocco. However, Spanish authorities said more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to their previous locations within 48 hours of the crossing.
Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, told Spanish newspaper El País that the city’s morgue had received 88 bodies since the incident began. He noted that Moroccan authorities were also recovering bodies from the sea but had not released an official figure.
The crossing marked the largest mass migration attempt into Ceuta, one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa.
According to AFP, Spanish troops later detained nine exhausted migrants inside the territory, while security officials escorted others back to Morocco after removing them from a bus.
Following the tragedy, authorities increased police and military patrols across Ceuta and installed a 500-metre floating barrier offshore to prevent further attempts at mass crossings.