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Spain’s interior ministry has announced that its operatives
found an African migrant hiding in the spare wheel well of a car, in a
desperate attempt to enter Spanish territory.
The said migrant was found alongside two others, all aged 18 to 25, who squeezed into hidden compartments of the car as they tried to cross the Moroccan border into Melilla, a Spanish city.
The said migrant was found alongside two others, all aged 18 to 25, who squeezed into hidden compartments of the car as they tried to cross the Moroccan border into Melilla, a Spanish city.
All three illegal migrants were found critically ill by the border police on Wednesday, the Spanish government said.
One of the migrants, who wore a white vest
and black shorts, was curled up into a small spare wheel well of the
car. The two others were found inside a false bottom constructed for the
vehicle, photographs released by the Interior Ministry showed.
They could barely move – or breathe – due
to the cramped conditions, extreme heat and exhaust gases. All of them
recovered after they were given emergency treatment.
The three illegal migrants – two from
Guinea and one from Ivory Coast – were discovered by border police at a
crossing between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
The police reportedly searched the car
because it looked suspicious and eventually arrested the 39-year-old
Spanish driver who is now accused of ‘crime against the rights of
foreign citizens’.
The development brings to mind an upsurge
in the number of desperate African migrants taking risky measures to
reach Europe since the beginning of the year. Thousands of migrants have
died making the voyage across the Mediterranean.
Last week, a Moroccan man was reported to
have suffocated to death as he was smuggled to Spain inside a suit case
hidden in the boot of a car.
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