Mallorca migrant boat survivors say 17 died at sea

Two North African men were rescued on Tuesday about 13 nautical miles southwest of Mallorca after drifting in the Mediterranean for 15 days while trying to reach Spain's Balearic Islands, the Spanish government's representative in the Balearic Islands said.

Both men were taken to hospital with dehydration and malnutrition. The survivors told rescuers that 17 other people who had been on the boat had died, but a spokeswoman for the government representative said there was no other record of them beyond the survivors' testimony.

Spain's maritime rescue service deployed a helicopter to search the area and issued a navigational warning to nearby vessels as the operation continued.

The Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, have become an increasingly used route for migrants leaving North Africa, particularly Algeria, in attempts to reach Europe. The rescue came after last week's crisis in Ceuta, where Spain said 50,000 migrants entered from Morocco.