DHAKA: Spanish authorities on Monday rescued 10 African migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar in a rubber dinghy in another incident highlighting the perils of trying to enter Europe illegally, after last week’s fatal shipwreck in Italian waters.

Rescue teams received a call in the morning from the dinghy transporting 10 men, all from sub-Saharan Africa, saying ‘they had left the Tangiers region (northern Morocco) at 1:00am’ local time, a spokesperson from the rescue services said.

The men were ‘apparently in good health’, said the spokesperson, and were treated by Red Cross volunteers before being taken to detention centres.

The rubber dinghy was located 2.5 nautical miles off the coast of Tarifa, a small town opposite Gibraltar on the southernmost coast of Spain, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2132 HRS, OCT 07, 2013
RoR/GCP