At least 43 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy, the Tunisian Red Crescent announced.
“Eighty-four migrants were rescued and 43 others disappeared after a boat carrying 127 migrants sank off the coast of Zarzis” on Friday night, Mongi Slim of the Red Crescent told AFP.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the Tunisian Defense Ministry Mohamed Zekri said on Saturday that 84 migrants of various nationalities, whose boat capsized 28 km northeast of Zarzis, had been rescued by the national coast guard, Tunisia’s TAP news agency reported.
The migrants from Bangladesh, Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt and Chad, aged between 3 and 40, said they had set off on the night of June 28 from the coast of Zouara in Libya to reach Europe illegally, he added.
Separately, the Defense Ministry said 10 Tunisian undocumented migrants onboard a wooden boat were intercepted Saturday by the navy 38 miles off the coasts of Kelibia, Nabeul.
The migrants, aged 17 to 30, said they departed Friday from El Haouaria in a bid to reach the Italian coasts, the Ministry said.
A week ago, Tunisian naval forces recovered two bodies and picked up 178 migrants from the Mediterranean after the boats transporting them broke down on the perilous crossing from Libya to Europe.
The Red Crescent has warned that detention centers in south Tunisia are now overcrowded with undocumented migrants.
According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, at least 11,000 migrants set off across the Mediterranean from Libya between January and April 2021, 73% more than in the same period last year. It said the increase is mainly due to the worsening situation for foreigners in Libya.
