THE Salvamento Maritimo has rescued more than 140 people from small boats located off the coast of Spain.
In total, 144 people were rescued from three boats located in and close to the Alboran Sea, off the coasts off Almeria, Granada and Malaga.
16 women and four children are believed to be among those on board the boats, all of whom are reportedly of sub-Saharan origin.
Salvamar Hamal ha rescatado 58 personas de una patera y 35 de otra y los está trasladando a #Motril. Una tercera patera con 51 personas ha llegado a la isla de Alborán y estas van a ser trasladadas a #Almería por Guardamar Polimnia.
— SALVAMENTO MARÍTIMO (@salvamentogob) January 15, 2018
Tweets posted by the Salvamento Maritimo’s official twitter page stated that the occupants rescued from the first two boats, carrying 58 and 35 people, have been moved to the Port of Motril in Granada while those on the third boat were transported to Almeria.
Spain has seen a dramatic increase in people trying to access Europe from Africa over the past year, with the Provincial Police Station of Almeria reportedly managing the procedures of a record 5,500 migrants that arrived on an estimated 252 boats in 2017.
