ARCHIVED - Heavily pregnant woman aboard immigrant boat which reached Benitatxell coast, Alicante
The patera arrived at a cove in the Marina Alta, Alicante province, at around 2am on Sunday September 19
A woman eight-months pregnant was amongst 11 irregular immigrants from Algeria who managed to reach Moraig de Benitatxell cove during the early hours of Sunday morning.
Once ashore, the “disoriented” occupants of the patera – a small dinghy – set off firecrackers, which alerted people living nearby who contacted the local police at around 2am.
Officers were quickly on the scene, where they discovered ten men and a heavily pregnant woman, who was taken to Alicante General Hospital and is said to be “doing fine”.
The remaining irregular immigrants were taken to Alicante port to undergo Covid PCR tests.
Salvamento Marítimo de València (maritime rescue service) coordinated the rescue while two police officers secured the boat before it was towed to Moraira yacht club.
Less than 24 hours earlier, a boat with an undisclosed number of irregular immigrants was intercepted close to Raco de Calp cove in Calpe, also in Marina Alta.
Image: Policia Local de Benitatxell