At least five migrants drown off Tunisian coast, seven still missing
Out of 35 on the boat, 23 were rescued; a local court in Tunisia launched an investigation
At least five people drowned at sea after a boat carrying migrants sank Monday off the coast of Tunisia, near the city of Sfax.
Fawzi al-Masmoudi, the spokesperson for the Sfax court, said that “35 people were on board the vessel, including women and children – most of them Tunisians but with the possibility that a few of them were sub-Saharan Africans,” adding that the incident occurred about an hour after leaving the coast.
Out of the 35, 23 were rescued, he said, and seven remain missing.
Al-Masmoudi said that the court had opened an investigation into anyone involved in the clandestine smuggling of people across maritime borders.
UN data show that more than 1,800 people have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea this year, around half of them leaving from Tunisia, one of the main hubs for migrants seeking to reach Europe from Africa.
Tunisia is facing serious political upheaval with recent protests, as its president Kais Saied has consolidated power over the past two years and eroding the country's democratic institutions.
The birthplace of the Arab Spring in 2011, Tunisia was considered the only country to successfully transfer to democratic rule until Saied brought back autocracy.