Walter Finch
THE authorities in Mallorca are investigating yet another body that was found floating in sea, marking the sixth just this month alone.
The body, found in Cala Mesquida around 5.30pm Monday in the coastal area of Capdepera, was in an advanced state of decomposition.
Authorities report the deceased, believed to be male, was wearing an orange life jacket and carried no identification documents, suggesting he may have been a migrant traveling by small boat.
Investigators are now awaiting DNA test results and an autopsy to be performed.
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This grim discovery marks the sixth such incident in Mallorca’s waters in less than three weeks.
Security forces suspect that the corpses may belong to a boat carrying 27 Somali nationals that went missing after setting off from Algeria on February 2.
However, another boat carrying 24 Somalis which had lost five people overboard was rescued near Ibiza on February 22.
The spate of corpses coincides with a month of stormy and tempestuous weather that has seen four separate weather fronts batter the peninsula and islands one after the other.
Earlier on Monday, skeletal remains were found on El Arenal beach, while last Friday, a woman’s body was recovered near Can Pastilla port.
Meanwhile, tourists walking on Can Pastilla beach on Saturday morning discovered what appeared to be a human leg, likely belonging to the woman’s body found the previous day.
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The tragic series of discoveries began on March 4, when a young man was found floating in Son Moll beach in Cala Rajada, followed by another young man’s body discovered by a fisherman in Cala Deià on March 8.
Most bodies have been found without documentation and wearing life jackets, painting a haunting picture of migrants who perished while attempting the Mediterranean crossing to reach Mallorca’s shores.
In January and February, 40 boats arrived on the Balearic coast with at least 823 migrants, 162% more than in the first two months of last year, according to the Efe news agency.
