Migrant Suffocates ‘After Trying To Sneak Into Spain By Hiding In Suitcase For 5hr Ferry Crossing’

A Moroccan migrant suffocated after he tried to sneak into mainland Spain by hiding inside a suitcase for a five-hour ferry crossing, police said.

The 27-year-old reportedly died on board the Trasmediterránea-operated “Sorolla” boat from the north African Spanish enclave of Melilla to Almeria on Sunday.

Local media reports that the man, named only by his initials NM, had curled himself up into the luggage which was placed into his brother’s car.

His 34-year-old sibling, who holds a French passport, then allegedly drove onto the ferry at 3 p.m.

When they reached the Spanish port, however, he reportedly discovered there was “something wrong” with his brother who’d been left trapped inside the case inside the vehicle.

He alerted authorities. Paramedics attended the scene and tried to revive the man, but he was pronounced dead soon after.

It’s believed he died from suffocation. “The doctor couldn’t do anything for him,” a witness told El Pais.

The victim’s brother was arrested by Civil Guard officers. It’s thought that the siblings were planning to travel onto France.

(stock picture of Melilla. Credit: Laura Tarraga Garrido/REX)