AT LEAST 20 people have died following a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia.
Five people have been rescued by the national coastguard after a boat, carrying people who are suspected to have been travelling from Tunisia to seek asylum in Europe, sank 25 kilometres from the coast.
Units have recovered 20 bodies and are searching for more.
The vessel the group were travelling in sank near Sfax, in the north of the country. According to the coastguard, the boat set off around 11pm yesterday from Chebba, in the north east of Tunisia.
This is the second mass-fatality incident in Tunisia to take place at sea after a boat carrying nine people – who had set sail with 42 others – also sank. The coastguard was able to rescue 27 people after the incident, but six people are still missing.
Sfax has become the main departure point for people seeking to reach Europe. Each year, tens of thousands of people attempt the perilous Mediterranean sea crossing.
Italy, whose Lampedusa island is 150 kilometres from Tunisia, is often their first port of call.
Since the beginning of the year, Tunisian human rights group FTDES has counted “between 600 and 700″ dead and missing people due to shipwrecks off Tunisia.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say