About 100 migrants killed in mass rush at Ceuta border — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): About 100 migrants were killed during a mass rush at the border of Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city in North Africa, its local government chief said, while thousands of migrants remain in the area. Reuters on Thursday quoted Juan Jesús Vivas, president of the Ceuta local government, as telling a European Parliament meeting that about 100 people had died during last week’s border crisis. Vivas said between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants were still in Ceuta. The Guardian also reported that Vivas put the death toll at about 100 and the number of migrants remaining in the city at between 3,000 and 5,000. Ceuta is an autonomous Spanish city in North Africa bordering Morocco. It is part of the European Union, and its border with Morocco is one of the EU’s external borders of the Schengen Area. Before Vivas announced the latest death toll, the Associated Press, citing Spanish and Moroccan officials, reported that more than 80 migrants had died in the incident. Some of the migrants drowned, while others were crushed in the crowd as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier. The Associated Press said the incident had reignited debate over migration in the European Union, with the migration policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez facing strong criticism from some EU leaders.