Six illegal immigrants drowned Monday morning off the coast of the Algerian capital Algiers when their boat capsized, six others were rescued and several others were missing, the Algerian coastguard was quoted by local media as saying.
According to the same sources, the tragedy occurred at 4:00 a.m. (3:00 GMT) on Monday, August 8, not far from Baïnem, west of the city of Algiers. “Six bodies were recovered and six injured, including a pregnant woman, were shifted to Baynem Hospital,” the same source said.
Investigations by the Coast Guard and Civil Defense are underway to identify other illegal immigrants on the boat and trace survivors’ accounts of missing persons. I am
They are about twenty migrants, from different nationalities, trying to reach the European continent in this makeshift boat.
To do this, migrants usually rent a simple boat for about $2,000 per person. But this journey is always dangerous.
Monday’s tragedy off the coast of Algiers is another harrowing episode in the attempts of illegal Africans to cross the Mediterranean and reach the coast of Spain.
In order to combat this irregular immigration, the Algerian government often arrests illegal immigrants along the coast or at the country’s borders.