RABAT, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan Royal Navy rescued 37 Moroccans suspected of illegal immigration off the northern city of Tangier, the Moroccan army announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The migrants' boat was facing trouble because of bad weather when a unit from the Moroccan navy came to their rescue, the statement said.
The rescue operation comes one week after a controversial intervention of a unit from the Moroccan marine which opened fire to stop a speedboat carrying illegal immigrants.
The Moroccan authorities said in a statement on Tuesday that the naval unit was forced to fire at the boat after its Spanish captain ignored warnings.
Four people were wounded by the navy's fire, the statement said.
Local media, however, reported that one of the wounded later died.
In recent months, Morocco has been witnessing a significant hike in illegal immigration attempts.
Morocco thwarted at least 54,000 attempts to smuggle illegal immigrants into Europe in the first eight months of 2018, compared with 39,000 a year earlier, the Moroccan government said.
