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Pictures and video of what happened afterwards spread online in the days that followed.

Human rights organizations around the world may have been persuaded to react in disgust.

In a video filmed by the human rights organization AMDH (The Moroccan Association of Human Rights), one can see bloody migrants being beaten by police with a baton and lying lifeless on the ground.

Migrants photographed before attempting to climb over the fence into the Spanish enclave.

Photo: Javier Bernardo / AP

According to Spanish authorities, about 2,000 migrants tried to storm the fence between Morocco and it. Spanish enclave Melilla. It writes Vergen.

Not sure how many died

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has written on his Twitter account that he is shocked by what happened.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

UN Secretary-General Anónio Guterres.

Photo: Mary Altaffer / AP

– I am shocked by the degree of violence shown at the border last Friday, which ended in the deaths of dozens of migrants and asylum seekers. The use of excessive violence is unacceptable. The rights and dignity of people on the run must be a priority.

How many were actually injured or killed after the incident is uncertain. Different actors convey different numbers.

Amnesty writes its pages that it is «at least 23». The Moroccan authorities also said this last Friday. AMDH reports 37 dead.

An African man pictured at a center for migrants in Melilla. The photo, a close-up photo, was taken through a fence. He is wearing a blue t-shirt, and looks straight into the camera with one eye. The other eye is swollen, and there is damage to the skin around the eye and nose.

A man from Sudan photographed at a center for migrants in Melilla. He was one of many who tried to break into the Spanish enclave on Friday 24. June.

Photo: FADEL SENNA / AFP

Amnesty International signs their pages that the pictures leaked from Melilla are shocking.

Piles of people, both living and dead, are lying on the ground, while Moroccan police are wandering around them, they write.

Amnesty says they demand an independent and thorough investigation. This applies to this incident, but also to previous incidents at the same border.

Launches investigation

The following Saturday, the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, described the incident as “an attack on the territorial integrity of Spain”, writes Vergen.

Last Tuesday, it became known that Spanish public prosecutors have started an investigation into the deaths.

The photo shows a migrant happily running away from the fence that separates the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. He is wearing black trousers and runs bare-chested. He runs with both hands in the host and smiles at the camera. The yellow grass reaches his knees. Behind him, a high lattice fence, armed guards, and dozens of other migrants can be seen.

A migrant has crossed the border into Melilla. The photo was taken on Friday 24. June.

Photo: Javier Bernardo / AP

AMDH also accuses Moroccan authorities of trying to cover up the deaths.

They wrote on Twitter six days after the incident that none of the dead had been autopsied.

In retrospect, there have been major protests in both Spain and Morocco against what happened.

Picture of a demonstration in Madrid, after several migrants were killed and injured as they tried to cross the border between Morocco and Malilla. The picture shows a group of people who have laid down on the ground, as lifeless, holding a sign where it says "Stop killing us". Around them are other protesters with various banners and signs.

Demonstrations in the Spanish capital Madrid after several migrants were killed and injured as they tried to cross the border from Morocco into Melilla.

Photo: Manu Fernandez / AP

The Spanish Commission on Refugees said most of those who tried to cross the border had fled the conflict in Sudan.

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