MADRID, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Up to 29 Sub-Saharan immigrants went missing when attempting to cross the sea between Morocco and Spain, Spanish state television RTVE reported on Friday.

The sea has taken them away, according to the account by their fellow immigrants, who were onboard the same ship running out of fuel when Spanish Maritime Rescue services found them in the waters 23 miles off the coast of Cabo de Gata in southeast Spain.

The ship was carrying 28 immigrants, including 17 men, 10 women and a baby, when rescuers found them. Some of the immigrants had symptoms of hypothermia.

They were treated by the Red Cross immediately on arrival at the port of Almeria.

The immigrants told the rescuers the boat, which left from Morocco at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, set sail with up to 57 passengers onboard.

The search for the boat begun on Thursday morning after an alert from a nongovernmental aid agency informing its departure from the north coast of Africa. It was not located until a merchant ship in the waters was able to give its co-ordinates to rescue services who rapidly dispatched a helicopter and boat to carry out the rescue.