Migrants storm Spanish border enclave fence, 200 get in
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Some 300 migrants attacked a fence separating Spain's North African enclave of Melilla from Morocco on Sunday, an effort that left one migrant dead and saw 200 others enter Spanish territory, authorities said.
A representative of Spain's government in Melilla said the migrant appears to have died from a heart attack despite the efforts of medical crews to revive him.
The representative said 19 more migrants needed to be treated at hospital for cuts or fractures they received when some 300 sub-Saharan Africans — all men — tried to climb the high border fence. The official said 200 migrants reached Spanish territory and six Civil Guards received non-serious injuries in the assault.
On the water, Spain's maritime rescue service said it pulled 140 migrants Sunday from four small boats that its rescue craft intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea.
Spain this year has seen a spike in migrants who try to reach the European Union nation either via its two North African enclaves or by attempting the perilous crossing the Mediterranean Sea in unseaworthy smugglers' boats.
The International Organization for Migration says over 1,780 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year.
