Tunisia’s coast guard on Thursday retrieved the bodies of 20 migrants after their boat capsized at sea, with at least 15 more feared missing, including children, officials said.
Five other migrants who were on board were rescued, Tunisian Ministry of National Defense spokesman Mohamed Zekri said, adding that a search operation was underway.
The rescue effort took place off the Port of Sfax in central Tunisia, Zekri said, adding that those on board came from sub-Saharan Africa, without giving further details.
Photo: AP
More than 40 people were on board the makeshift boat, Sfax District Court spokesman Mourad Turki said.
Thirteen of the 20 bodies recovered were women, Turki added.
Tunisian Ministry of the Interior spokesman Khaled Hayouni said that the boat was heading to Italy when it sank.
Some of the bodies were taken to a Sfax hospital for autopsies to determine the cause of death, he said.
Tunisian fishers, who were nearby after the sinking, said that children were also on board and are still missing, Turki said.
Tunisia is just a few hundred kilometers from mainland Europe, and has long been a launch pad for illegal migration to the continent.
Departures by desperate migrants seeking a new life in Europe peaked in 2011, following the revolution that overthrew longtime Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Although they have significantly declined, illegal crossings from Tunisia to Europe jumped by more than 150 percent in January to April, compared with the same period last year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Many of the migrants are from sub-Saharan African countries fleeing economic hardship and crisis at home.
According to the interior ministry, 8,581 migrants were intercepted after setting off on the Mediterranean crossing between January and the middle of September — 2,014 of those were non-Tunisians.
Earlier this month, the Tunisian Navy said that it had intercepted 93 migrants after their boat broke down off Sfax during an attempt to reach Italy.
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