Tunisia’s coastguard has recovered 15 more bodies of migrants, bringing the death toll from a shipwreck off Tunisia to 25.
A wooden boat packed with about 110 migrants sank on Wednesday off the coast of the city of Sfax. Seventy-six people were rescued while the rest are still missing.
Drowning accidents off Tunisia have dramatically increased in recent weeks, leaving dozens dead and missing, amid a sharp rise in migrant boats heading towards Italy from the Tunisian coast.
The coastguard recovered the bodies of 14 migrants, including six women from African countries, and one Tunisian who was the captain of the boat, the national guard official Houssem Eddin Jebabli said.
Tunisia has taken over from Libya as a main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.
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