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Four young female migrants perish off the coast of Murcia
The dinghy is thought to have been adrift off Cartagena for several days
A small inflatable boat was found off the coast of Cartagena this week bearing the dead bodies of four young women. Early investigations suggest that the deceased were irregular immigrants trying to reach the Region of Murcia from North Africa.
The 'Salvamar Draco' boat, from Salvamento Marítimo, towed the dinghy back to shore on Thursday April 11.
While a thorough investigation is yet to be carried out, the authorities believe the young passengers may have been adrift at sea for some days without food or water, or else died as a result of some kind of accident.
When it was found, the seven-metre long inflatable with only a single engine was partially sunken, according to reports from the emergency services.
The macabre discovery was made early in the night by a customs inspection ship, and a rapid response search and rescue boat was then sent out to track the dinghy, which was eventually located around eleven kilometres from the Cartagena coastline.
The towing operation lasted until just after 1am the following morning.
The semi-rigid boat and the four bodies were taken to the dock of the port of Santa Lucía, where patrols from the National Police and the Guardia Civil, judicial officials and firefighters from the Cartagena City Council were waiting.
Once it was determined that the bodies were already in an advanced state of decomposition, they were transferred to the facilities of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Cartagena, where post-mortems are currently being carried out to determine the exact causes of death.
While further details haven’t yet been released, the authorities have said they were surprised to find four women travelling alone to Spain. What’s even more curious is that their small vessel had a camouflaged outboard motor, a feature that is more typically seen on drug trafficking boats rather than in cases of illegal immigration.
In other news: La Manga already fully booked for summer
Image: Salvamento Marítimo
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