Moroccan families search for migrants missing near Ceuta

CEUTA, Spain (MNTV) — Moroccan families are continuing to search for relatives who disappeared during a mass migration attempt to Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, with some relatives camping near the Tarajal border crossing while authorities work to identify recovered bodies.

The families’ search comes more than three weeks after tens of thousands of people crossed or attempted to cross from Morocco into Ceuta during a major migration surge on July 30 and 31.

More than 70,000 people reportedly crossed the border during the two-day crisis. Most have since left the enclave, while between 2,000 and 5,000 migrants are still believed to remain in Ceuta.

The official death toll has reached 91, including 80 deaths recorded in Spain and 11 on the Moroccan side. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights has put the toll at at least 141, saying the final number could rise as authorities continue searching for victims.

Spanish authorities have recovered dozens of bodies from the sea, but identifying the victims has proven difficult, leaving families without confirmation about the fate of missing relatives.

At the Sidi Mbarek Muslim cemetery in Ceuta, preparations have begun for the burial of unidentified victims. Cemetery manager Saïd Mohammed Mohammed said a court order had authorized burials, although limited resources meant that more than 80 bodies could not all be buried immediately.

He said unidentified remains would be assigned numbers and documented through court records, allowing relatives to potentially identify and recover them at a later stage.

Families have meanwhile travelled between border crossings, hospitals, police stations and morgues searching for information.

In northern Morocco, Rahali spent days trying to determine what happened to his son Zakaria, who travelled from Tangier with a friend after hearing that the Ceuta crossing had opened.

According to Rahali, the two young men reached the border during the night but found the crossing closed. They were later told that people were attempting to enter the enclave through the sea.

The pair entered the water after protecting their phones from seawater. Zakaria, who could not swim well, became separated from his friend amid the crowd. His friend eventually reached land but was unable to locate him.

Rahali said his son’s phone continued to ring for two days before becoming unreachable. He subsequently travelled to hospitals and locations where recovered bodies had been taken, providing authorities with his son’s identification documents and personal details.

Authorities told him that fingerprints and other forensic examinations were being collected as part of efforts to identify the dead, but he had still received no confirmation about his son.

Families have increasingly turned to social media in their search, circulating photographs and videos of missing relatives across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms.

One family searching for a 32-year-old man named Mehdi found footage appearing to show him emerging from the sea during the migration attempt. His sister said another photograph also appeared to show him among a group of migrants.

Despite the apparent sightings, the family had received no confirmed information about his whereabouts for more than two weeks.

Spanish authorities have established a dedicated missing-persons office in Ceuta to assist families and coordinate identification efforts.

The office collects photographs and personal information about missing people, including details about clothing, belongings, tattoos and other identifying features. Authorities are also taking biological samples from relatives to compare with DNA collected from unidentified bodies.

Spanish officials said 32 missing-person cases had been registered through the office, with 29 corresponding to DNA records in its database. The first identification using the DNA process was confirmed on August 5.

Forensic specialists from Spain’s Civil Guard are also examining fingerprints and biological evidence and may share information with Moroccan authorities to assist in identifying victims.

The continuing search has left families on both sides of the border facing uncertainty as they await confirmation of whether their relatives survived the dangerous attempt to reach Europe.