Migrants attempt to enter Europe using inflatable boat (Getty images)
Madrid: A woman and a child died after the boat in which they and 31 other migrants were trying to reach Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on Wednesday.
A service spokeswoman said a Spanish Navy unit stationed on Alboran island, halfway between Spain and Morocco, rescued 30 migrants after the boat overturned yesterday.
She said a search for one missing migrant was continuing.
The spokeswoman said a 10-year-old girl was found dead and the woman died later. It was not immediately known if the two were related.
She said the service transported 29 of the migrants by boat to the Spanish port city of Almeria while a pregnant woman was flown to an Almeria hospital for treatment.
None of the 29 needed to be hospitalised.
She said the service had been tipped off by an NGO in Morocco that the boat had set sail from near the northern Moroccan city of Nador.
There were no details on the migrants’ nationalities.
Thousands of migrants, most from sub-Saharan African countries, try to reach Spain’s shores by boat each year.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with service regulations.