Multiple bodies found with hands and feet tied in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain

The Spanish authorities launched an investigation after discovering several corpses in the Mediterranean Sea whose hands and feet had been linked, police said on Monday.

According to Regional Daily Diario de MallorcaSince mid-May, the civil guard boats have spotted at least five bodies with their feet and linked hands. Police suspect that victims can be migrants from North Africa, Majorca Daily Bulletin reported.

Diario de Mallorca cited investigators saying that migrants could have been attached and thrown into the sea during the crossing, potentially because of a dispute with their smugglers.

The investigation into an alleged homicide aims to identify the victims and resolve the causes of their death, a spokesperson for the civil guard at AFP told AFP.

The discovery shows “the most cruel side” of the irregular migration path, said regional president Marga Prohens to local media.

Although most of the tens of thousands of migrants linked to Europe receive Canary Islands In the Atlantic, hundreds try the shorter crossing of North Africa at the Balearic archipelago in the Mediterranean.

The authorities said that 31 organizations had been found in the water and beaches of the archipelago between January and June this year, Majorca Daily Bulletin reported Earlier this month.

In 2023, the International Organization for United Nations migration recorded 8,542 migrant deaths worldwide – with 37% of these deaths that occurred in the Mediterranean.

There have also been spectacular rescues in the region. Earlier this month, a charity ship saved more than 50 migrants from an abandoned oil platform in the Mediterranean, where A woman gave birthDepending on the ONA ONS open from the NGO based in Spain.

And in January, the Spanish Coast Guard rescued a baby who was born On an inflatable ship carrying migrants to the Canary Islands.