Moroccan Migrant’s Body Found Off Casablanca Coast, Raising Shipwreck Death Toll

The Moroccan rescue services are adamant: the body recovered off the coast of Casablanca is that of one of the migrants who were on board the boat that sank on September 28.

The 10-meter motorboat is said to have carried 56 people, all young people from rural towns in the El Kelaâ des Sraghna region. According to the MAP, at the time of the incident, 3 survivors were transported, unconscious, to a hospital on Saturday and have since returned home.

The Zenata beach, where the boat ran aground, continues to gather the families of the missing and the Civil Protection elements, searching for the missing.

Despite multiple awareness campaigns and the ever-increasing number of shipwrecks, many migrants continue to risk their lives to reach Europe from Morocco.

Most try to reach the Spanish coast by sea. Others opt for the land route and try to cross the borders located in the north.

According to its official figures, Morocco has thwarted 54,000 attempts to cross to the European Union and announced the dismantling of "74 criminal human trafficking networks" since the beginning of 2018.