At least 13 African migrants died when their boats sank off Tunisia, judicial official Mourad Turki said on Saturday.
Another 10 migrants were missing off the coast of Sfax and 19 were rescued, the official added.
Among the bodies recovered were four women and four children, Turki said.
In recent months, dozens of people have drowned off the Tunisian coast, with an increase in the frequency of attempted crossings to Europe from Tunisia and Libya towards Italy.
Hundreds of thousands of people have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing in recent years, many of them fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
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