2 migrants die trying to reach Spanish enclave in N. Africa

BARCELONA, Spain – Spanish authorities say two migrants have died while trying to swim to the shore of Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave in North Africa.

The spokesman for the Spanish government’s representative in Ceuta tells The Associated Press that two women from Sub-Saharan Africa jumped from a small boat that was unable to make land due to choppy seas and perished on Saturday.

The spokesman spoke anonymously in line with official protocol.

Officers of Spain’s Civil Guard recovered the bodies. Another two migrants, a man and woman, managed to reach Ceuta safely after they abandoned the boat, which had departed from Moroccan territory.

Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish coastal enclaves surrounded by Morocco.