1:58PM GMT 14 Feb 2014
Row breaks out after Spain admits it fired rubber bullets into the sea as migrants attempted to swim into Spanish territory from Morocco
Spain’s government has admitted firing rubber bullets at migrants as they attempted to swim from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta during an incident last week in which at least 12 people are thought to have drowned.
The admission from Jorge Fernandez Diaz, the Interior Minister of Spain to parliament on Thursday, contradicts earlier statements by Spain’s Civil Guard who insisted that no bullets had been fired and came after complaints by human rights organizations.
Video footage shows a group of African migrants attempting to swim round a man-made breakwater that separates Moroccan and Spanish waters to reach Ceuta. A group of more than 200 gathered to make the attempt in the first hours of daylight on February 6.
The footage, captured on the mobile phone of someone on shore shows a group of migrants wading to the beach where officers from the Civil Guard are waiting. A series of loud bangs can be heard as officers fire into the water.
The death toll officially reached 12 on Thursday after authorities discovered another washed up body but as many as 15 people are thought to have died in the attempt.
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