Dozens of Europe-bound migrants missing off Tunisia’s coast

Rescue teams searched on Wednesday for dozens of people reported missing after a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Europe capsized off Tunisia’s coast.

According to AP News, The International Organisation for Migration have confirmed that 30 people were rescued and 75 people are currently unaccounted for after the boat sank off the city of Sfax in southern Tunisia. One body has been recovered.

Mourad Turki, a Sfax courts spokesperson, said that the people rescued were between the ages of 18 and 40 and of various nationalities, including Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Moroccan and Cameroonian. He also confirmed that the number believed to be missing is likely to increase.

Esma Rihane spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration said that the Tunisian navy was continuing to comb the area and search for the missing.

It is reported that the boat departed from Zuwara in northern Libya on Sunday night. According to the Sfax National Guard, the vessel ran aground 10 kilometers from the island of Kerkennah, off Tunisia’s coast.

Zuwara serves as a departure point for migrants attempting to reach southern Europe by sea. Last July, a boat carrying 127 migrants from Zuwara sank off Zarzis, a port in southern Tunisia, leaving 43 people missing.

Dramatic photos and videos from the Spanish maritime rescue group showed dozens of people in the water and clinging to the side of an upturned boat. It was not immediately clear if the group’s mission involved the same boat as the one reported by the International Organisation for Migration.

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Anna Ellis

Originally from Derbyshire, Anna has lived in the middle of nowhere on the Costa Blanca for 19 years. She is passionate about her animal family including four dogs and four horses, musicals and cooking.

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