Tunisia: One dies, six missing as boat of illegal migrants sinks

23 Mai 2020

Tunis, Tunisia, May 23 (Infosplusgabon) - An illegal migrant perished and six others were reportedly missing after their boat sank on Friday night off the coast of Sfax city in southern Tunisia. They were heading to Europe.

Tunisian National Guard spokesman Lt. Houssameddine Jbabli said units of the coast guards went to the scene after receiving an SOS from the boat occupants, all Tunisians.

Coast guards managed to rescue 11 migrants, but the boat's captain and the smuggler fled, he added.

According to the spokesman, divers from the civil defence corps were dispatched to the area to search the seabed for possible survivors.

According to the governor of Sfax, Anis Oueslati, those who disappeared did not die, but fled to escape the police.

In a statement to the official TAP news agency, he supported this claim explaining that the sea is not deep in the area, and that the authorities had not received any call from their relatives to inquire about their fate.

The governor reported the sinking of another boat in poor condition 50 miles from the Kerkennah Islands, near Sfax, whose 70 occupants were rescued by the coast guards.

According to the same spokesperson, 10 attempts at illegal migration to Europe, mainly Italy from the Tunisian coast, were aborted in the past two days, thanks to joint patrols of the National Guard, the coast guards and the Police.

He said that 223 arrests took place including 94 nationals of various sub-Saharan countries among whom were women and children.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/OKL/GABON2020

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