Migrant boat sinks off Tunisia: at least 12 dead
A boat carrying 15 migrants sank off Tunisia’s southeastern coast, killing at least 12 people. Volunteers are still searching for two passengers, while the tragedy triggered violent protests in the city of Ben Guerdane.
As Al Jazeera English reports, the boat, which was likely headed for Italy, departed on Friday from an area between the cities of Zarzis and Ben Guerdane. It sank about 14 nautical miles, or 26 kilometers, off the coast of Zarzis. Most of those aboard were young people.
Search at sea
According to Tunisia’s National Guard, the bodies of 12 people had been recovered from the sea by Sunday. Only one passenger survived: Tunisian media reported that he spent about 48 hours at sea before being rescued by a commercial vessel.
On Monday, volunteers from Zarzis went out to sea in fishing boats to continue searching for the two missing people. The National Guard said that 14 passengers were from Ben Guerdane and one was from Zarzis.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Protests in Ben Guerdane
Protests began in Ben Guerdane on Sunday evening. Demonstrators burned tires and blocked roads, while police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Protesters demanded improved living conditions and economic development, saying that a lack of opportunities and prolonged marginalization are pushing young people toward dangerous sea crossings to Europe.
Mustafa Abdelkabir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters that seven members of one family were among the passengers. He said that over the past two days, Ben Guerdane hospital had received at least 19 bodies of migrants recovered from the sea. It has not yet been established whether all of them are linked to the sunken boat: genetic testing is being conducted to identify the dead.
Dangerous route to Europe
Tunisia’s southeastern coast is located about 145 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa. According to the International Organization for Migration, the central Mediterranean route is the deadliest in the world: at least 821 migrants have died or gone missing there this year. Overall, at least 1,065 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean Sea.
