Tunisia's coast guard says it has retrieved the bodies of nine people who died their boat got into difficulties this week. The shipwreck is the latest in a series of disasters involving migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya and Tunisia to Europe.
On Thursday (February 15), the Tunisian coast guard found the bodies of nine people on a boat adrift in the central Mediterranean about six kilometers off the southern port city of Zarzis, news agency AFP reported, citing Tunisian authorities.
The vessel, reportedly carrying more than 50 male passengers from countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan and Syria, had "sustained damage caused by water getting in", the National Guard said.
According to AFP citing Tunisian media, the boat had set sail for Europe from neighboring Libya. Zarzis is some 60 kilometers away from the Tunisian-Libyan border.
A spokesperson confirmed the provincial prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the shipwreck, according to AFP. "It's very likely that they died after being overwhelmed by the fuel fumes at the bottom of the boat," they explained.
According to the AP news agency, Tunisia's coast guard also retrieved 45 people from the boat after it started to fill with water. The boat was later reported to have sunk.
Coast guard spokesman Houssameddine Jbabli said survivors were transported to a local hospital in Tunisia, AP reported.
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Increase in crossings, fatalities
Tunisia and Libya are the main departure points in northern Africa for migrants crossing the Mediterranean towards Europe.
As the number of attempted crossings has been increasing in recent weeks and months, the number of recorded fatalities on the central Mediterranean route has multiplied.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said 2,500 people died or went missing while trying to cross the central Mediterranean last year, a 75% increase on 2022. The true death toll is likely to be higher, since many migrant departures are not reported.
In recent weeks, several migrant boats are reported to have disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea.
At least 17 Tunisian nationals have been missing at sea since February 5 when their boat left Bizerte in Tunisia. Among the missing people is a five-year-old child.
On February 8, Tunisian authorities said the bodies of 13 people whose boat had capsized off the east coast near Sfax had been found. 27 others remained missing, with only two people confirmed to have survived the wreck.
Another group of around 40 Tunisian nationals went missing at sea in January after setting out in a boat from Sfax on the night of January 10. Relatives have held weekly protests demanding more information about the missing, who were mainly teenagers from the town of El Hencha, according to local media.
Migrants rights groups such as the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, known by its initials in French, FTDES, have criticized the government and said they have not done enough to save the lives of those at sea, AP reported.
Read more: Tunisian migrants who reached Italy down 4.5% in 2023
with AFP, AP