Death toll rises to 72 in Ceuta migrant surge

Search and rescue teams continue to scour the waters off the coast of Ceuta, where the death toll from a massive migrant influx has climbed to 72. Officials anticipate recovering more bodies as the operation persists. The majority of those who perished were attempting to swim from the Moroccan coast to the Spanish enclave, with others scaling border fences.

Spanish newspaper El País cited an anonymous police official stating that "there are more dead in the sea." The city authorities are reportedly preparing a facility to accommodate up to 200 bodies. Images from the area showed numerous swimming and car tires used by migrants trying to reach Ceuta from the Moroccan coastal town of Fnideq.

Authorities have installed a 500-meter inflatable barrier and are now adding buoys to create a physical border, aiming to improve control and surveillance. While tens of thousands of migrants irregularly entered Ceuta on Wednesday and Thursday, the Spanish government reports that nearly all have since returned to Morocco. A few hundred migrants reportedly remained in Ceuta over the weekend.

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There are more dead in the sea.