A total of 11 migrants died and seven were missing, while 23 were rescued after the boat overturned near the Tunisian city of Sfax, the state news agency (TAP) reported today, Reuters reports.
"The coast guard units of Sfax rescued 23 people and retrieved 11 bodies of migrants whose boat sank off the coast of Sidi Mansoura in Sfax on Monday morning. There were mostly Tunisians in the boat, but also a certain number of sub-Saharan Africans," it added.
Sfax has emerged as a major hub for migrants from Tunisia and other parts of Africa who attempt dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean, often in dilapidated boats in the hope of a better life, according to Radio Free Europe.
More than 1.800 people have died this year in shipwrecks on the central Mediterranean migration route, the world's deadliest, twice as many as last year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Italy has announced that around 95.000 migrants have arrived on its shores since the start of the year - twice as many as in the same period in 2022.
Tunisians are the fourth largest group among them, behind migrants and refugees from Ivory Coast, Guinea and Egypt.
Muhamed Borhen Chamturi, commander of the coast guard in Sfax, told AFP on Thursday that this month the force had intercepted around 3.000 migrants in just ten days, 90 percent of whom were from other parts of Africa.
In July, the European Union signed an agreement with Tunisia that foresees 105 million euros of direct European aid to prevent the departure of migrant boats and fight against smugglers.
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