MADRID, April 6 (Xinhua) - A group of around 260 sub-Saharan migrants attempted to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Monday morning with over 50 succeeding, the Spanish government delegation in the city confirmed.
The delegation said that a Spanish civil guard was injured in the "massive and violent" assault, in which the immigrants used hooks to climb the six-meter high border fence and threw rocks at border guards.
Although Spanish Civil Guards, accompanied by members of the national police force and the Spanish military, attempted to stop them from crossing the frontier, 53 people were able to break through and make their way to Melilla's temporary immigrant residency (CETI).
Last week, the government delegation in Melilla admitted the CETI was "saturated" with around 1,700 migrants currently housed in the center, around twice of its usual capacity, which raised health worries about the possible spread of the coronavirus.
According to data published by the Spanish Ministry of Health on Monday, Melilla has 86 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The local government said it has been "closely monitoring" the residents in CETI to try to prevent an outbreak inside the facility.
