The Violations Documentation Center in Northern and Eastern Syria said that "contact was lost with a fishing boat carrying 16 Syrian migrants, which set off from the coast of the Algerian city of Oran in the Mediterranean Sea."

ANHA said that the boat set off last Wednesday, 26 April, from the coast of the Algerian city of Oran and was directed to the Spanish shores. Relatives of those on board said that they had lost contact with them on Wednesday. 

On 3 October last year, a boat carrying migrants sank off the Algerian coast near the city of Oran. 18 people died, most of them Syrians, including 9 citizens from Kobane  canton.