Morocco: 18 migrants dead in stampede to enter Melilla

By CIARÁN GILES and TARIK EL-BARAKAH
Associated Press

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan authorities say 18 migrants were killed and scores of migrants and police officers were injured in a “stampede” of people trying to cross into the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla on Friday. Some 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 in a statement that the casualties occurred when people tried to climb the iron fence.