According to a security official, Tunisia’s coast guard retrieved ten remains from a migrant boat that sank along the shore, the second vessel to drown within hours of Tunisia, raising the death toll to 29.
A national guard official, Houssem Jebabli, stated that the boat sank off the coast of Mahdia providing no details.
Earlier on Sunday, a human rights group reported that at least 19 Sub-Saharan African refugees and migrants drowned off the coast of Tunisia while attempting to cross the Mediterranean and reach Italy.
According to Romdhane Ben Amor, an official with the Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES), the deaths happened after a boat carrying refugees and migrants sank off the shore of Mahdia during a journey that began on the beaches of Sfax.
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According to him, the Tunisian coast guard could save five individuals from the boat.
Tunisian authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The deaths were reported after more than 2,000 asylum seekers arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa within 24 hours, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.
The agency called Saturday’s arrivals a “record.”
The agency called Saturday’s arrivals a “record.”
At least five boats transporting refugees and migrants have drowned off the coast of Sfax in the previous four days, leaving 67 people missing and nine dead.
The coast guard earlier stated that it had halted over 80 boats bound for Italy in the preceding four days and imprisoned almost 3,000 passengers, most of them from Sub-Saharan African countries.
The shore near Sfax has become a key departure point for those seeking a better life in Europe after leaving poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.
The new accident comes amid a Tunisian government crackdown on undocumented Sub-Saharan Africans.
According to UN figures, at least 12,000 individuals arrived in Italy this year via Tunisia, compared to 1,300 in the same period in 2022.
Earlier, Libya was the primary point of departure for refugees and migrants.
