Readers might recall our reporting on the 6th of December on the drowning of eight babies during a crossing from North Africa made by illegal immigrants.

Spanish coastguards had rescued 29 immigrants 23 nautical miles off Cabo de Gata, Almeria. Amongst the 29 immigrants (17 men and nine women) rescued were three pregnant women. Yet 23 occupants had been lost during the voyage, amongst them the said babies.

It has now come to light that two men had allegedly been responsible for some of the deaths. Police became suspicious of how afraid many of the immigrants were of these two men, but once pressed the story came out.

It was when the sea was at its worst that a Nigerian pastor had begun to pray for the storm to abait. The two men, however, believed that he was calling up evil spirits to drown them all, so they beat him with the floor planking from the zodiac dinghy and threw him overboard, not before emptying his pockets of valuables.

According to witness accounts, the two men then went on to dispose of seven to ten other passengers; again, pocketing their valuable first.

It was the testimony from the fellow passengers and the fact that the police found 1,500 euros on the two men that led to their arrests.

(News: Almeria, andalucia – Photo: Salvamento Marítimo)