Gibraltar - Six Moroccans were found dead and 18 people were missing yesterday after their 25-foot wooden boat capsized off the southern coast of Spain. Spanish rescue services said some 30 people were crammed into the boat when it left a beach in Ceuta on the north African coast in the early hours of yesterday morning. A French yacht sailing from Gibraltar found five Moroccans clinging to the wreckage just off the coast of Tarifa. Spanish rescue services later found another Moroccan survivor.
Police believe most of the passengers were Moroccans illegally emigrating to Spain. However, they said two Spaniards who had organised the crossing were among the missing.