The death toll from a mass rush of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week reached at least 72 ‌on Sunday, as five more bodies were found along the North African coast, Reuters reported citing officials.

The number of fatalities was considerably higher than what was announced by Moroccan authorities on Sunday.

More than 50,000 people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea in an unprecedented surge that began on Thursday at one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa, prompting alarm across the bloc. More than 48,000 returned to Morocco within 48 hours and more did so over the weekend, Spanish authorities said.

The Spanish government representative in Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez, told reporters on Sunday that, in addition to the 72 fatalities, ⁠more than 1,000 people had been treated by health services. The situation in the enclave had improved markedly, he said, but more remained to be done to re-establish normality.

Some migrants drowned and others were crushed while trying to climb a breakwater and border fence. Many had been driven to migrate by economic hardship and encouraged by social media rumours.

Morocco’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that 11 people had died, mostly by drowning while trying to cross into Spanish territory, noting that it was fact-checking reports on deaths from the other side of the border.

The ministry blamed the rush of migrants on social media misinformation, human trafficking networks and misinterpretation of a Spanish ruling banning immediate returns of migrants intercepted at sea. That statement is similar to the Spanish Foreign Ministry’s comments on the matter.

Moroccan authorities set the number of those involved in the crossing at 40,000, far lower than the figure used by Spanish officials, adding that 1,135 were ‌stopped from ⁠entering Melilla, another Spanish enclave.

The statement reiterated that Morocco was committed to countering illegal migration and called for the burden of managing migration to be shared.

Two crew members have been killed after two helicopters collided mid-air in Greece while battling wildfires, the BBC reported.

The fatalities were a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer. A British pilot and another Greek co-ordinator on the second helicopter survived.

Video of the incident some 65 km (42 miles) west of the capital Athens shows one of the two Bell helicopters hitting the rotors of the other, which bursts into flames and crashes in a ravine. The other aircraft made an emergency landing.

Wildfires have broken out in Greece this week, prompting mass evacuations. Other European states have also suffered devastating blazes during prolonged heatwaves.

According to the Greek Fire Service, the two Bell helicopters leased from Australian company McDermott Aviation collided on Sunday while taking part in efforts to tackle a large wildfire burning on the Attica-Boeotia border.

The crew members of one aircraft were rescued alive, while the second crew were recovered unconscious and later pronounced dead.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his “deepest sorrow” over the accident.

According to protocol, all Bell helicopters across the country have been grounded, a source from the civil protection ministry told the BBC.

At least 17 people were killed in a ‌suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, Reuters reported citing a rescue group and a regional police official.

The explosion took place in the Kabal area of Swat, a district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A ⁠pro-police rally of local residents was taking place in the same area on Sunday, but it was not immediately clear whether the rally was the intended target.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant Islamist group in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 34 people were wounded in the explosion, according to a spokesperson for Rescue 1122.

The rescue official said the death toll rose to 17 from 14 after three victims died in ‌hospital. ⁠The victims included seven police officers and 10 civilians. One of the dead persons was believed to be the suicide bomber, Fida Hussain, a regional police official, told Reuters.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed “deep grief and ⁠sorrow over the suicide blast”.

The police said an operation had been launched to arrest anyone who may have assisted in the attack.

A second tanker carrying Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) has come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz within the past month, Euronews reported.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a projectile struck the vessel off the coast of Oman.

Maritime security consultancies Vanguard Tech and Marisks identified the vessel as an LNG carrier operated by GasLog.

The incident occurred as the vessel was leaving the strait. Fortunately, no crew members were injured, and the ship remains seaworthy and is able to continue its voyage.

It is not yet known who the liquefied natural gas cargo was destined for or whether the incident has affected deliveries.