Madrid: In a heart-wrenching tragedy, 18 African nationals were killed in a stampede on the Spain-Morocco border.
According to Moroccan authorities, scores of migrants and police persons were injured in the melee when they were surging across the border fencing to cross into the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla.
More than 130 migrants breached the border between Moroccan city of Nador and Melilla on Friday, AP reported. It was the first such mass crossing since diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco were mended.
A Spanish government spokesperson said about 2,000 people attempted to cross the border fence, but most of them were stopped by Spanish Civil Guard police and Moroccan forces on either side.
The tragedy occurred when some desperate people tried to climb the iron fence.
Five migrants were killed at the spot and 76 injured, while 140 Moroccan security officers also suffered injuries. Thirteen of the injured migrants later succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.
Poverty and violence force people to make mass feeling attempts to reach Melilla and other Spanish territory on the North African coast to try and get an entry into continental Europe.
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