At least 88 dead in Ceuta, Spain says, as EU prepares talks on uncontrolled migrant crossings

At least 88 people died during the recent mass influx of migrants into Spain's Ceuta enclave from Morocco, Spanish officials said on Monday, though Moroccan officials later presented a lower estimate.
Most of the estimated 60,000 people who rushed into Spain's north African territory, most by swimming, have returned to Morocco since the territory's largest mass migrant crossing.
"The latest figure that we have is 72," the government's delegate to Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez Triano, told reporters, when asked about the number of fatalities. The previous toll was 67 deaths.
Later on Sunday, Morocco's interior ministry issued its own toll, saying 11 people had died trying to reach Ceuta. They said 10 people had drowned while one fell from a rocky area.
Spanish police and troops patrolled the streets of Ceuta on Sunday as the enclave largely returned to normal after the sudden mass influx between Wednesday and Friday.
Only small groups of migrants were still walking around after most who crossed the small border barrier returned voluntarily to Morocco within 48 hours.
On Saturday, reporters with the AFP news agency saw migrant minors milling around in a disused industrial park in Ceuta, while others dozed on the pavements outside.
Small inflatable boats from a rescue unit scoured the waters around the border barrier that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, where a new 500-metre floating boom reinforced security.
Spain has blamed criminal gangs for spreading rumours that a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling on immigration would allow migrants easier passage.
The EU said it would hold a video call on Tuesday after 22 bloc members issued a joint open letter calling for an urgent meeting to agree a speedy coordinated response and to prevent further uncontrolled crossings.
Italy on Saturday implemented a one-month suspension of its Schengen agreement with Spain allowing for control-free movement between borders.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in a letter to EU leaders, blasted the "selfish" reaction of some EU countries.
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday spoke to the situation in Ceuta in his daily prayers, saying he was following it "with concern" and hoping for a solution of "peace, stability and justice."