TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) – About 20 African migrants were found dead on Thursday after their smuggling boat sunk in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe, Tunisian authorities said. Five survivors were rescued and the Tunisian navy is looking for 20 others who are still considered missing.
Tunisian coastguard boats and local fishermen have found and retrieved the bodies in the waters of the coastal city of Sfax in central Tunisia, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ben Zekri told The Associated Press.
According to survivors, the migrant smuggling boat carried about 40 or 50 people bound for Italy, Ben Zekri said.
The boat was overloaded and in poor condition, and faced high winds on Thursday morning that may have contributed to the sinking, said National Guard spokesman Ali Ayari. He was transporting migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, he told The AP.
Tunisian naval units were looking for more survivors.
Tunisian authorities say they recently intercepted several migrant smuggling boats, but the number of attempts is increasing, particularly between the Sfax region and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
According to estimates by the International Organization for Migration, more than 1,100 migrants have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean this year.
Migrant smuggling boats often depart from the coast of Tunisia and neighboring Libya with people from all over Africa, including an increasing number of Tunisians fleeing protracted economic hardship in their country.
Tunisians made up the vast majority of the migrants who arrived in Italy this year, despite attempts by Rome to negotiate with Tunis to end the border crossings. Of the 34,001 migrants who had arrived in Italy so far this year, 12,847 were Tunisians, or 38%. Bangladeshis were the second largest group, followed by those from the Ivory Coast, Algeria, Pakistan and Egypt.
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Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.