Europe

Spain: 400 migrants storm North African border fence

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A Red Cross worker speaks with migrants after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain Friday Dec. 9, 2016. The Interior Ministry says some 400 migrants from Africa have stormed a border fence to enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco early Friday. (AP Photo/Jose Antonio Sempere) (The Associated Press)

Migrants sit on the ground after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain Friday Dec. 9, 2016. The Interior Ministry says some 400 migrants from Africa have stormed a border fence to enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco early Friday. (AP Photo/Jose Antonio Sempere) (The Associated Press)

Migrants stand together after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain Friday Dec. 9, 2016. The Interior Ministry says some 400 migrants from Africa have stormed a border fence to enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco early Friday. (AP Photo/Jose Antonio Sempere) (The Associated Press)

The Spanish Interior Ministry says some 400 migrants from Africa have stormed a border fence to enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

A ministry official in the city said two police officers and three migrants suffered cuts and bruises in the early morning crossing Friday.

Hundreds of African migrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter Ceuta and Spain's other North African enclave city of Melilla each year, hoping to reach a better life in Europe.

Most are intercepted on the spot and returned to Morocco. Those that make it across the six-meter (20-foot) -high border fences head for temporary migrant accommodation centers. They are eventually repatriated or let go.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with ministry regulations.

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