Morocco denies responsibility for events at its border with Spain, as deaths near 100

Four days after tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into the small Spanish territory of Ceuta, the death toll continues to rise -- nearing 100.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Authorities in Morocco broke their silence late Sunday after last week's mass crossing at its border with the small Spanish territory, Ceuta, in northern Africa. The death toll has now risen to at least 72 on the Spanish side, with Morocco now reporting 11 dead on its side of the border. NPR's Miguel Macias has been following this. Joins us from Seville, Spain. Miguel, what did Moroccan authorities have to say, and why is this the first we're hearing from them?
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: Well, many leaders have commented on this crossing around the world, but Moroccan authorities have kept quiet. They don't usually talk to the press and they're not a democracy, so they don't really have to. On Sunday, they reported on those deaths on their side of the border, and they cited some of the same factors that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez mentioned last Friday - human trafficking gangs, the dissemination of misleading information online and the impact of recent decisions of Spanish courts, but A, my reporting tells me that some of those factors, like mafias, did not really play a role here. There are other obvious factors that are not being mentioned by authorities in Spain and Morocco.
RICCARDO FABIANI: We can safely say that this was a manufactured crisis. This was not a spontaneous crisis as some are suggesting.
MACIAS: To put it simply, A, tens of thousands of people do not show up at the border on their own on a particular day and are able to breach security at an area that is heavily monitored out of pure coincidence. Fabiani, other sources I've spoken to and dozens of videos documenting this crossing say there's clear evidence that Moroccan law enforcement allowed this to happen. Morocco has not commented on this.
MARIA RAMIREZ: Pedro Sanchez knows that he needs Morocco's cooperation, and he's willing to look the other way. So the main underlying problem is the relationship with Morocco, authoritarian regime that continuously weaponize immigration.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So this is what happened. Do we know why?
MACIAS: We don't. But we do know some things that help us understand this complex situation.