Over 200 migrants storm border in Spain’s north African territory of Melilla

More than 200 migrants stormed across a triple-layer border fence into Spain’s north African territory of Melilla on Friday, Spanish authorities said, in one of the largest such crossings in years.

Some 300 people launched the dawn assault to cross into the Spanish city, which lies on the northern tip of Morocco, and 214 made it across, the authorities said.

“They were singing songs of joy through various parts of the city,” the Spanish government authority in Melilla said in a statement.

The assault began at 6am, it said, as migrants assembled on the Moroccan side of the border.

“The crossing was marked by throwing of all kinds of objects – stones, sticks and bottles – at police,” the statement said.

It said one Spanish officer was grazed on the scalp and another lightly bruised on the leg.

It was the latest in a series of co-ordinated assaults by African migrants on the border of Melilla, which along with fellow Spanish territory Ceuta has the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.