MADRID (AFP) - About 500 African migrants stormed over the border fence from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Melilla on Tuesday, an official said, in one of the biggest such crossings in years.

Roughly 1,000 people rushed the triple-layer fence separating the Spanish city from Morocco in a "violent" border assault and 500 made it across, said the governor of Melilla, Abdelmalik El Barkani.