Update: 72 d!ed in Spain’s Ceuta migrant rush from Morocco

At least 72 people d!ed during last week’s mass influx of migrants into Spain’s Ceuta enclave, when tens of thousands of people mostly swam around the border post from Morocco, local officials said on Sunday, August

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Most of the estimated 60,000 people who rushed into Spain’s north African territory have returned to Morocco since the territory’s largest mass migrant crossing.

“The latest figure that we have is 72,” the government’s delegate to Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez Triano, told reporters, when asked about the number of fatalities. The previous toll was 67 de@ths.

Spanish police and troops patrolled the streets of Ceuta on Sunday as the enclave returned to normal after the sudden mass influx of migrants from Morocco.

Only small groups of migrants were still walking around after most who crossed the small border barrier returned voluntarily to Morocco in 48 hours.

The largest migrant rush into the enclave has caused an international crisis for Spain, with European partners criticising Madrid for its immigration policies.

Outside a housing project near Ceuta port, Spanish soldiers detained a group of nine tired-looking migrants who were sitting on the pavement, guarded by troops with an armoured car, an AFP reporter said.

Small inflatable boats from a rescue unit scoured the waters around the border barrier that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, where a new 500-metre (1,640-feet) floating boom reinforced security.

Civil Guard were also taking migrants off a bus to escort them back to the border post to return to Morocco.

Spain has blamed criminal gangs for spreading rumours that a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling on immigration would allow migrants easier passage.