Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has rescued 366 migrants attempting the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea this weekend.
The service says that its rescue craft has intercepted 73 migrants traveling in four small boats on Sunday, adding to the 293 migrants it pulled from nine vessels on Saturday.
Driven out by violent conflict and extreme poverty, tens of thousands of migrants attempt to reach Spain and other southern European countries each year by crossing the Mediterranean in smugglers’ boats. Most of the boats are unfit for open water, and thousands drown.
The UN says 636 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. A total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 arriving in Spain, through the first four months of 2018.
— AP
Illustrative: In this July 25, 2017 file photo, sub-Saharan migrants receive life jackets as they are rescued by aid workers of Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea, about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios, File)
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