DEATH TOLL FROM ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS RISES TO 67

CEUTA, AUGUST 1 /SRNA/ – The death toll in the migrant crisis at the border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and Morocco has risen to 67, the Spanish government announced.

The victims include people who drowned and others who died in a stampede while attempting to cross the barrier surrounding the Spanish enclave in North Africa, the Associated Press reported.

Spain announced that it is installing an additional 500-metre security barrier alongside the existing fence after around 60,000 migrants breached the border of the small Spanish territory between Thursday and Friday.

Several exhausted migrants who swam ashore this morning at Tarajal Beach in Ceuta were met by soldiers, who then escorted them back across the border.

Spain's Interior Ministry said that most of those who entered Spanish territory in North Africa have already been returned to Morocco.

After days of chaos, when the streets were filled with people hoping for a better life in Spain, residents of Ceuta awoke today to an uneasy calm, as security in the autonomous city of 84,000 inhabitants had been severely disrupted.

"Life in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident," said the head of the city administration, Juan Jesús Vivas.

He said the process of returning migrants had begun satisfactorily but must be completed, adding that the city has not yet returned to normal.