MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service says at least 328 people have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea despite strong currents in the Strait of Gibraltar area, the closest stretch of water separating Europe from North Africa.
The service said 82 migrants, including 16 women and 3 children, were found in a boat attempting to navigate the strait’s wild waters on Tuesday after departing from Morocco.
Other boats carrying 189 more people were found further east in the Mediterranean on Tuesday. Another group of 57 migrants landed at tiny Alboran Island, where the rescue service says Spanish soldiers assisted them.
The United Nations migration agency, IOM, says more than 18,000 migrants reached Spain by sea from the beginning of 2018 until mid-July.