Nine bodies of illegal emigrants washed up on Moroccan coasts

Nine bodies of Moroccan illegal emigrants, including five women, were found recently on the beach of the town of Asilah, 40 km south of the northern city of Tangiers, police sources said.

The victims were part of a group of candidates to illegal emigration who had sailed aboard three makeshift boats last week from the coastal town of Bouselham, 100 km south of Asilah, heading for Spain in quest of jobs.

Some 35 other candidates to illegal emigration were arrested. Three smugglers, including a communal councilor of Moulay Bouselham locality, were also handcuffed.

The undocumented emigrants were told by the smugglers when they arrived off Asilah that they reached Spain and that they had to swim to the coast.

Many candidates to illegal emigration perish in the troubled waters of Gibraltar while trying to reach Spain.