• The death toll from the influx of migrants into Ceuta has risen to 72, with bodies being recovered from the sea off the Spanish exclave.
• Most of the deaths were due to drowning while attempting to swim from Morocco to Ceuta, with some using swimming rings and car tires in their efforts to reach the exclave.
• An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people entered Ceuta irregularly, mainly on Wednesday and Thursday, with the majority having since returned to Morocco, while several hundred new arrivals remained in the exclave.

Further bodies have been recovered from the sea off Ceuta following the influx of tens of thousands of migrants into the Spanish exclave in North Africa, bringing the total death toll to 72, the Spanish Interior Ministry's representative in Ceuta Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano told journalists on Sunday.

Previously, 67 deaths had been officially confirmed. Emergency services are continuing to search the sea for possible further bodies.

Spanish state broadcaster RTVE reported on Friday that most of the dead had drowned while attempting to swim from Morocco to the exclave, citing the authorities.

Photos and TV footage showed numerous swimming rings and car tyres which people had used in their attempts to reach Ceuta from the Moroccan coastal town of Fnideq. Others had climbed over the border fence.

Official estimates suggest a total of 50,000 to 60,000 people had entered the exclave irregularly this week, mainly on Wednesday and Thursday. The Spanish government says almost all of them have since returned to Morocco.

RTVE reported that several hundred new arrivals remained in Ceuta at the weekend.