المملكة: Nine migrants were killed and six others missing off the coast of Tunisia

Nine migrants from sub-Saharan African countries died, and six others went missing after their boat sank off the Tunisian coast while trying to reach Europe, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday.
According to the testimonies of 27 other migrants rescued by the Tunisian naval guard, there were 42 people on board the boat that sailed, Tuesday night, Wednesday, from the Jebniana region in the state of Sfax (central east), according to judicial spokesman Farid Ben Jaha.

Bad weather conditions

Due to bad weather conditions, their boat capsized off the coast of Mahdia Province, located about 100 kilometers north of Sfax, before a fisherman spotted them and informed the authorities.
Bin Juha added that nine bodies were recovered, six are still missing, and 27 migrants were rescued, all from sub-Saharan Africa, while search operations continue.
Sfax and Mahdia are among the main areas from which Tunisian and foreign migrants depart in an attempt to reach the Italian coast.
In addition to Libya, Tunisia, some of whose coasts are less than 150 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa, is the main departure point in North Africa for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Other accidents

At the end of November, three Tunisian migrants died after their boat sank off the coast of Mahdia.
At the end of October, 15 unidentified bodies were found off the coast of Mahdia.
A month earlier, the Marine Guard rescued 36 migrants, including 20 Tunisians and 16 Egyptians, after their disabled boat drifted towards Nabeul state in the east of the country.
Since the beginning of the year, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights has recorded between 600 and 700 deaths or disappearances of migrants who sailed from the Tunisian coast, after recording more than 1,300 deaths and disappearances in 2023.