The death toll climbed to 67 and at least 70 migrants were arrested as Spain’s military began installing a 1,600-foot floating barrier off the coast of Ceuta Saturday in an effort to stem hordes of migrants from Morocco.
An estimated 50,000 migrants flooded into the tiny Spanish enclave in North Africa during the crisis that began Thursday, overwhelming authorities.
Some of the migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, while others were killed in a deadly crush at a border checkpoint — prompting Spain to declare a national emergency and mobilize law enforcement authorities to send thousands back across the border.
The Navy installed a pneumatic barrier between Tarajal Beach in Ceuta and Morocco that contained a line of secured buoys with a surface height of 30 to 70 centimeters.
At least 48,000 migrants had volunteered to return to Morocco as of Saturday, Spain’s Interior Ministry claimed.
Some were shuttled towards the border in buses while others were transported in police vehicles, Spanish newspaper ABC reported.
However, several crossing attempts were reported throughout the afternoon despite military presence in the sea.
Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas warned reporters that authorities were still working on restoring order.
“We welcome the fact that returns have begun, but Ceuta has not returned to normal,” he said.
“We are not back to normal because there are several thousand people who must be returned, and a climate of unease and concern still prevails.”
At least one Moroccan national was arrested Saturday after he allegedly stabbed another migrant during a Friday street brawl in front of a Ceuta school, according to El Faro de Ceuta newspaper.
Footage recorded by a bystander showed the migrant jabbing at his victim and then appearing to strike him near the shoulder area.
Clashes were also reported between Moroccan security forces and throngs of migrants who wanted to flood into the city of Melilla, located east of Ceuta.
Antena 3 television reported that Moroccan authorities had taken at least 70 people into custody since the migrants flooded into Ceuta on Thursday.
The surge came with migrants seeking to escape Morocco’s social and economic crisis and chose Ceuta and Melilla — the European Union’s only lands that border Africa.
President Trump seized on the images from Ceuta during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David Friday — calling it “an invasion” and warning Americans ahead of November’s midterm elections.
“That same thing is going to happen to us if the Republicans don’t get elected — except worse,” the president said, while blaming Spain’s border crisis on “weak law, bad management” and liberal migration policies.
