No fewer than six migrants were on Monday found dead at sea and many others were missing after their boat sank Monday off the coast of Algeria, local television reported, adding six survivors were rescued.
‘Six bodies were retrieved and six injured people, including a pregnant woman, have been transferred to hospital at Bainem’ west of the capital Algiers, private television channel Ennahar said.
It further added that the boat capsised sometime around 4:00 am local time (0300 GMT),.
As at the time of filing this report, a search was ongoing for a yet-to-be ascertained number of missing people.
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The boat’s occupants originated from various sub-Saharan African countries. They were attempting to reach Europe.
Africa Today News, New York reports that over 2,350 would-be migrants have been rescued or intercepted in the first seven months of this year off Algeria, according to data provided by national authorities.
Spain is a favoured destination for migrants embarking from the North African nation.
Algeria has suspended a two-decades-old friendship treaty with Spain with immediate effect after Madrid reversed decades of neutrality in the Western Sahara dispute.
The move has now become the latest blow to increasingly fragile relations between Algiers and Madrid, which depends on Algeria for its natural gas supply.
‘Algeria has decided to immediately suspend the treaty of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation’ signed with Madrid in 2002, the president’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Spain’s government said it regretted Algeria’s decision and reaffirmed its commitment to the friendship treaty.