Three people died and seven were listed as missing when a dinghy carrying migrants across the Mediterranean from Algeria ran into trouble off southern Spain, maritime rescue officials said Friday.

Rescuers found the semi-sunken dinghy with two survivors and three bodies some 26 nautical miles south of the southern city of Motril on Friday, Spain's maritime rescue service wrote on X.

The two survivors said the boat had been carrying 12 people when it set sail from Algeria six days ago, leading the authorities to suspect seven people may have fallen into the sea, it said.

The date and location of their disappearance was unclear.

A plane from the European Union's Frontex border agency was helping in the search for the missing, it said.

Weather conditions were rough, with winds of up to 75 kilometres (47 miles) per hour and waves as high as three metres (10 feet).

Spain is one of the main gateways for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, with 56,852 undocumented migrants reaching its shores last year, an 82.1 percent jump from 2022.

The vast majority arrived on the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.

Several thousand die every year while attempting the journey.