The Government Delegation has communicated this Wednesday the arrest of one of the eleven members of the boat rescued this Monday after capsizing his boat off the coast of Melilla, being considered the skipper of it, which is why he has been accused of a crime against foreign citizens.

As explained by the government representation “the skipper of the boat, who was being identified when the impact occurred, has been arrested for alleged crimes against the rights of foreign citizens”.

This person, he added, “remains hospitalized due to a blow received as a result of the impact of the migrants' boat”.

Of the three GEAS agents who were at the scene at that time, he added, two of them submerged to rescue these people who had been trapped, while the third remained in the boat to be able to steer it and, in turn, help their companions load the migrants onto the boat.

The aforementioned source has highlighted that the rescue “was joined by two citizens who were in the area and who did not hesitate to dive several times in search of the woman and the baby.”. In fact, he specified, “it was one of these citizens, in collaboration with the GEAS, who managed, after several attempts, to get the little one out of the water”.

The Melilla Civil Guard Command and the Government Delegation have wanted to express their gratitude and appreciation to these two people “for the invaluable help they have provided in helping migrants”.

Likewise, the Government delegate, Sabrina Moh, has highlighted “the professionalism and good work of the GEAS agents during yesterday's rescue, while thanking the citizens for their collaboration”.

Finally, it has highlighted that the eleven rescued migrants of North African origin are all safe and in good health, although in the case of the man considered the boss, he is still hospitalized recovering from injuries, although as a detainee for an alleged crime of trafficking in human beings.