Boat located off Spain's Mediterranean coast with three dead and two survivors

The tragedy of immigration has once again struck the waters of the Mediterranean. A French military vessel alerted the Spanish authorities to a boat adrift with five men aboard off the coast of Murcia on Monday. According to sources, when the maritime rescue unit reached the boat, they found two survivors and three dead.

The boat was about 40 kilometres from the port of Santa Lucía in Cartagena. In the afternoon, the Spanish fast rescue boat Salvamar Draco reached the migrants and brought them to the port.

At around 6pm, the forensic authorities ordered the removal of the bodies. Red Cross volunteers attended to the surviving migrants, who were exhausted. They took the two men to the Santa Lucía hospital, where the National Police took charge.

The autopsy results and the statements of the survivors could shed light on what happened during the crossing. It is unknown whether there were other occupants on board, but the possibility has not been ruled out.

This is not the first time an incident with such a fatal outcome has occurred in Cartagena.

Last April, the maritime rescue unit also towed to port a boat with the bodies of four young women on board. Initial hypotheses suggested that the victims, of North African origin, were trying to reach the Spanish coast and died either after drifting for several days without water or food or due to an accident.

The boat they were travelling in was found partially submerged. The emergency services received a report from a customs inspection vessel in transit and dispatched a search and rescue speedboat to the location.

The coast of the region of Murcia received this year's first wave of migrant boats in February. Several vessels were located at various points along the coastline with at least 100 people on board. Two of the boats reached Torre Derribada, in the municipality of San Pedro del Pinatar, two more got to Águilas and one more to Cartagena.