Seven bodies including two children discovered in the waters off Pilar de la Horadada and La Manga

THE Guardia Civil discovered seven bodies, two of them children, in the waters off Pilar de la Horadada and La Manga between Sunday, August 28 and Monday, August 29.

The bodies of seven people, including those of two children, were discovered between Sunday and Monday in the waters of Pilar de la Horadada, Torrevieja and La Manga del Mar Menor by the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard.

It is believed that the deceased were occupants of a patera that sank with 16 people onboard between the coasts of Alicante and the Region of Murcia.

The Guardia Civil has not ruled out more bodies being discovered in the coming hours.

The Guardia Civil discovered the first of the bodies at 3 pm on Sunday.

A man’s body was pulled from the waters off Pilar de la Horadada, then at 7.45 pm the body of a pregnant woman was recovered.

A child’s body was then found on the beach of Las Higuericas in Pilar de la Horadada at 10.40 pm.

At 2 pm on Monday, August 29, a fourth body was located three nautical miles from Torrevieja.

Three bodies were found in La Manga, two on Sunday while the body of a four-year-old boy was recovered on Monday.

As noted, officers believe that the bodies came from a boat located just over 26 miles east of Cabo de la Nao, in Xàbia on Sunday, August 21.

At the time, a sailing boat raised the alarm and Salvamento Marítimo de València sent the Helimer 223 helicopter to the area.

A 21-year-old man was discovered alone on the boat after supposedly coming from Morocco or Algeria.

The young man, who was the only survivor, said at the time that 16 people were on board when it suffered a blow from the sea.

The young man rescued by Salvamento Marítimo was dehydrated, conscious and suffering from sunburn, according to sources close to the case.

All the bodies recovered have been transferred to Institute of Legal Medicine sites in both Alicante and Cartagena in order to carry out autopsies and extract DNA or fingerprint samples to identify them.

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