Story By: Amanda Morales, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

Two North African migrants who stowed-away on a cargo ship have died on-board after being found in a container as the vessel docked in a Spanish port.

The ship, the ‘Sag Good Timing’, was anchored on the outskirts of the port of Valencia in eastern Spain waiting for permission to dock when the tragedy unfolded on 14th August.

According to news source El Mundo, the captain of the freighter, which bore a Liberian flag, spotted five stowaways inside a container while waiting and realised two of them were in severe health conditions so the crew tried to assist them.

The stowaways, whose names have not been disclosed, had reportedly boarded the container ship in Algeria.

According to El Mundo, the Information and Emergency Coordination Centre (CICU) received the notice call about midnight.

By the time the police and port authority officials arrived at the vessel, the two stowaways who were in a severe condition had died.

According to the local newspaper El Periodico, the Civil Guard are investigating the circumstances in which these two men, supposedly of North African origin, died while the Foreign Health Department of the Ministry of Health is taking care of the three other stowaways.

In a separate incident, local newspaper Levante said that the Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the death of two other stowaways, also believed to have been from the North African region of Maghreb.

According to Levante, two young people who stowed away on the Liberian-flagged freighter ‘El Leto’ jumped overboard in an alleged attempt to avoid being discovered on 6th August.

The stowaways were presumably swallowed by the swirling water generated by the ship while it was carrying out docking manoeuvres.

Their bodies were found after a lengthy search.

Both investigations remain open.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.