GENEVA/RABAT: At least 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Morocco's interior ministry gave lower figures, saying 31 people had been rescued and that 11 bodies had been recovered on Monday

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All migrants on board the boat came from sub-Saharan Africa, the ministry said in a statement, adding that investigations showed the organiser of the risky crossing was from Mali.

"The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors," Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters.

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation, Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders), he added.

Helena Manelo, founder of Caminando Fronteras, said the Spanish coast guard had called her early on Monday after being contacted by the captain of the boat whom they were unable to understand.

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"They were asking for help because their inflatable boat was damaged," the Morocco-based Spanish activist told Reuters.

Morocco and Spain cooperate closely at the security level to crack down on trafficking networks but they are not doing enough to save lives at sea, Manelo said.

In an incident on Oct. 26, the Moroccan navy fired at a speedboat carrying Moroccan migrants after it refused to stop, killing a young woman and injuring three migrants.

Commenting on that incident, Morocco's Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said the navy had not seen the migrants because they were hiding in the boat.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Zakia Abdennebi and Ahmed Eljechtimi; editing by William Maclean and Gareth Jones)</s>GENEVA/RABAT: At least 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, he said.

A Moroccan official, asking not to be named, said 11 bodies had been recovered, adding that the dead were all migrants, not Moroccan nationals.</s>GENEVA – Some 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Joel Millman, spokesperson of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: “The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors.”

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental oragnisation Caminando Fronteras, he said.</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 2, 2018 1:38 PM

GENEVA/RABAT (Reuters) - At least 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency. Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors." The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, he said. A Moroccan official, asking not to be named, said 11 bodies had been recovered, adding that the dead were all migrants, not Moroccan nationals. Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.</s>GENEVA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Some 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental oragnisation Caminando Fronteras, he said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by William Maclean)</s>Some 34 migrants have died in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean, which 26 people survived, the UN Migration Agency said on Tuesday, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency....Read more via Leadership Newspaper – https://ift.tt/2P1zJzH Get more World News</s>Joel Millman, spokesman of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said: "The boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

The information came from the Moroccan navy and a Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, he said.</s>About 34 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have died in a latest shipwreck on the Mediterranean sea, the U.N migration agency has said.

The Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency put the survival figure at 26, according to reports.

Morocco’s interior ministry in a statement on Monday, October 1, 2018, said all the migrants on board the boat were from sub-Saharan Africa without giving further details.

The ministry said investigations showed that the organiser of the risky crossing of the Mediterranean sea was from Mali.

Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters that “the boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people aboard. At least 34 have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors.”

In August 2018, the platform of Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria, MEPN, raised an alarm that over 700 Nigerians died in the Mediterranean Sea while migrating illegally so far in 2018.

The group said out of over 1,500 migrants that have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2018, many of them were Nigerians.

Nigerian leader, President Muhammadu Buhari had said those leaving the country through illegal means are doing so 'at their own risk'

He said the country will continue to repatriate Nigerians stuck abroad.

The president stated this during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, late August in Abuja, the nation's capital.
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• None Passion Incubator cofounder talks to Business Insider about the Africa Business Festival
• None I visited the 6 Google Stations in Lagos and here's what I found out about the free Wi-Fi</s>At least 34 refugees have drowned in a shipwreck along the western Mediterranean, the UN migration agency said, citing the Moroccan navy and a Spanish aid agency.

Helena Maleno, a Morocco-based activist with Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, said on Tuesday that 34 of a total of 60 migrants died after authorities failed to respond to earlier reports of the incident.

"They had been asking for help for the past 24 hours but we let them die slowly," she posted on Twitter.

Joe Millman, a spokesperson of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters news agency that "the boat was adrift since Sunday with 60 people on board. At least 34 people have drowned, it looks like there were 26 survivors."

A Moroccan official who wished to remain anonymous told Reuters that 11 bodies had been recovered so far, adding that none of the deceased were Moroccan nationals.

For the first time since the refugee crisis began in 2015, the Morocco to Spain route has become the most popular path for asylum seekers attempting to reach Europe's shores.

Up until September 10 this year, a total of 34,994 people made the perilous journey, dwarfing numbers for the Libya-Italy and Turkey-Greece routes with 20,210 and 20,827 respectively. This figure is also already treble that of 2017.

According to some reports, Moroccan authorities believe 50,000 migrants and refugees are currently based in Tangier and its surrounding area.
Thirty-four migrants drown in a shipwreck in the western Mediterranean Sea. The Moroccan Navy rescues 26 survivors and recovers 11 bodies.