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At least 16 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died on Saturday when the vehicle they were in had plunged into an irrigation cbad, the official MAP news agency reported.
The agency said that 17 other "sub-Saharan Africans seeking to become illegal immigrants" had been injured and transported to hospital after the accident on a small road near the Spanish territory of Melilla.
Local authorities cited by MAP reported that the driver had fled and that an investigation had been opened on the accident.
The Moroccan NGO, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, said the death toll was 19 dead and nearly 50 people had traveled in the vehicle.
The vehicle was "often used by traffickers to transport migrants".
Melilla is one of two Spanish territories attached to northern Morocco which is the only land border of the European Union with Africa.
According to the International Organization for Migration, 1,605 migrants entered Spain by land in the first four months of this year.
Moroccan authorities have declared an end to 89,000 "illegal immigration attempts" last year, including some 29,000 by sea.
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