Five migrants killed and scores injured during bid to reach Spanish enclave

Irish Examiner

Five migrants have been killed and many others, as well as police officers, were injured during a “stampede” of people trying to cross into the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla.

About 130 migrants breached the border between Morocco and Melilla on Friday, the first such incursion since Spain and Morocco mended diplomatic relations last month.

A spokesperson for the Spanish government’s office in Melilla said about 2,000 people attempted to enter the North African city.

Morocco’s Interior Ministry said that the casualties occurred when people tried to climb the iron fence.

It said five migrants were killed and 76 injured, and 140 Moroccan security officers were hurt.

People fleeing poverty and violence sometimes make mass attempts to reach Melilla and the other Spanish territory on the North African coast, Ceuta, as a springboard to continental Europe.

Spain normally relies on Morocco to keep migrants away from the border…