Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2015 18:45:36 +0200
Madrid (AFP) - Thirteen people were hurt Saturday when hundreds of African migrants charged at the border between Morocco and the Spanish territory of Ceuta, and 87 made it across, authorities said.
The migrants managed to get around the border fence where it meets a breakwater on the Mediterranean shore of Ceuta, the Spanish government delegation there said in a statement.
Some of the migrants that tried to make it through in the early morning dash for the border were held back by Moroccan security forces.
Of the 87 that managed to cross, some breached the fence while others went into the sea and swam around the breakwater, the statement said.
Eleven of the migrants said they were minors, it added. The migrants were all in good health, though 10 of them and three Spanish police officers were treated for light injuries.
Along with Melilla to the east, Ceuta is one of two Spanish territories on the northern coast of Morocco that together form the European Union's only land borders with Africa.
Thousands of migrants have tried to reach Spain from north Africa. Many try to smuggle themselves across the border to Ceuta and Melilla hidden in cars while others cross the Mediterranean in flimsy boats.