Spanish Rescuers Recover Over a Dozen of Migrants Bodies Off Country's Coast

MADRID (Sputnik) - The Spanish Maritime Safety and Rescue Society (SASEMAR) said on Monday it, along with the Spanish Civil Guard, had recovered bodies of 17 people, which have drowned in the Alboran Sea, the westernmost part of the Mediterranean, in an attempt to reach Spain.

"Guardamar Polyhymnia [rescue ship]: 80 people rescued alive and 13 dead…. Shipwrecked Patera, @guardiacivil recovered 4 corpses and took over 22 men," SASEMAR said on Twitter.

Bodies of the four dead migrants were discovered by the Civil Guard in the province of Cadiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, it added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, Spain currently tops the list of Mediterranean countries by the number of migrant sea arrivals, with over 47,500 migrants arriving in the country since the beginning of the year, another 567 people died on their way to the country, as of November 2.

READ MORE: Spain to Set Up Central Operational Command to Tackle Migration Crisis

Over 98,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea in 2018, with about 2,000 people feared dead or missing.