Moroccan Track Star Missing After Attempted Sea Crossing to Ceuta

On February 9, 2014, Badr El Moutaouakil, 14 years old, from Fnideq, finished first in the male cadet category of the Ceuta cross-country championship, organized by the ICD, reports El Faro de Ceuta.

Seven years later, the same Badr is making news in a different way. Since Tuesday, he has been reported missing at sea while attempting to swim across Ceuta, accompanied by a minor.

What has changed in Badr’s life that at the age of 21 he opted for illegal immigration? This is the question that everyone who knew him as a good athlete who won competitions both in Ceuta and in Morocco is asking.

In his house in Fnideq, his family keeps the trophies and medals he won. In Ceuta as in Morocco, he is considered a "good athlete and a good person" who had to give up athletics to pursue his university studies in commercial aviation in Tangier.

Saturday, like every day since the announcement of his disappearance, three swimmers are scouring Benzú and Tarajal in search of Badr. So far, there has been no sign of life from the athlete. His family in Fnideq, still without news of him, is beginning to despair.