Nine migrants intercepted in Albir, Costa Blanca, Spain

The Guardia Civil detained a total of nine Algerian immigrants who had attempted to make landfall in Albir.
Two were found in Alfaz and received attention from the Red Cross at the Guardia Civil headquarters in Altea, although another seven men travelling in the same boat had disappeared.
Although not immediately located, five were later found by the Guardia Civil and later airlifted in the Maritime Rescue service’s helicopter base in mantises (Valencia).
Hours afterwards another person was rescued from the sea off the Sierra Helada in Albir along with another who was trapped on the cliffs.
Their rescuers initially assumed that they were the victims of a mishap, but it was soon apparent that they were two more of the irregular migrants and taken to Alicante port, Guardia Civil and Red Cross sources revealed.
All nine were males in good health apart from mild symptoms of hypothermia and scratches and grazes from the rocks.
Assuming that there were no more than nine people in the boat, a total of 549 migrants are known to have reached Alicante province by sea this year.