Forty migrants dead in shipwreck off Tunisia

Shafaq News – Tunis

Forty migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died and 30 others were rescued after a boat sank off Tunisia’s coast, a judicial official said on Wednesday.

Walid Chtabri, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office in the coastal city of al-Mahdia, told AFP that 70 people were on board. “All victims were from sub-Saharan Africa, including infants."

Tunisia has become a main departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe through Italy. The UN Refugee Agency says nearly 4,000 irregular migrants have reached Italy from Tunisia so far this year, despite a 2023 deal with the European Union aimed at curbing departures and strengthening Tunis’ capacity to manage migration.

The central Mediterranean remains one of the world’s deadliest migration routes, with more than 32,800 people reported dead or missing since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.