Overview
- A French military ship spotted a small migrant boat adrift about 25 miles off Cartagena with five men on board, three already dead, and Spain’s Salvamar Draco brought everyone to the Port of Santa Lucía.
- Red Cross staff treated the two survivors at the dock, and doctors at Hospital Santa Lucía examined them under National Police custody.
- The National Police and their UCRIF unit opened a criminal investigation into the deaths and into suspicions that more people traveled on the boat and were thrown overboard.
- Investigators plan to take statements from the survivors to learn what happened and to account for any missing travel companions.
- No suspects have been named, and police note a recent Canary Islands case where 19 alleged smugglers were arrested after being accused of throwing 50 migrants into the sea and charged with homicide and torture.