The first boat was located floating adrift off the coast in Cabo de las Huertas and the other two in Guardamar
Three boats with 23 immigrants on board have been intercepted early this morning in front of Cabo de las Huertas (Alicante and Guardamar), as reported by the Civil Guard and the Red Cross.
The first of the vessels was intercepted at around 6.50 this morning after a drifting vessel was seen in Cabo de las Huertas some fifty meters from the coast. The rescue was carried out at Albufereta where eight immigrants were found on board could be located. They were towed to the shore by on land by members of the Civil Guard and the National Police Force. All eight have now been moved to the offices of the Provincial Police Station. The Maritime Rescue boat, Salvamar Mirfak has removed the boat.
Shortly afterwards, at about 7:05, a second boat was located in the waters of Guardamar with seven people on board, and then three hours later, at 10:00 this morning, another one was located in the area with eight people on board. Civil Guard agents from Guardamar and Torrevieja have taken fifteen immigrants into custody.
At the moment, the Red Cross is providing healthcare to immigrants. The detainees in Alicante are being cared for at the police station by Red Cross personnel, while those from Guardamar are at the Guardia barracks in Torrevieja waiting to be processed.
The Security Forces have launched procedures for the identification of the, to find out their country of origin and initiate the procedures for their repatriation.
