Spanish authorities have increased the capacity of police and forensic teams to identify the bodies of 80 migrants found after massive flooding last week in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
As families continue to search for information about their missing relatives, officials have announced that most of the victims are expected to be buried in Ceuta in the coming days.
So far, only four bodies have been identified through fingerprints, compared with data in Spanish databases, or through DNA analysis. Meanwhile, tests are ongoing to confirm the identities of the other four victims.
Spanish police have collaborated with Moroccan authorities by sharing fingerprint data of all the deceased. A special office has also been set up near the border where relatives can report disappearances and provide biological samples for the identification process.
According to authorities, the bodies will be buried in Ceuta, unless the family requests the repatriation of an identified victim. In special cases, the bodies could be exhumed later and transferred outside Spain, if this is approved by a court decision.
The tragedy has brought attention back to the dangers migrants face while trying to cross borders into Europe.
