Migrants ran into Spain's Ceuta through the Tarajal Border Crossing on Friday (July 31) after tens of thousands of people arrived by sea and land in a day, with at least 19 dead bodies found in the water, Reuters reports.
The Spanish Department of National Security said on its website that more than 60,000 people were estimated to have crossed illegally in 24 hours, citing the Interior Ministry. The statement was later deleted from the website with no immediate explanation.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern Morocco, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa. The two cities, each home to around 85,000 people, both periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe, but the scale of Thursday's (July 30) rush had little precedent.
