Tunisia: 7 Migrants Disappeared in Shipwreck, 5 Dead
This Monday morning after a shipwreck 5 Tunisian migrants died and seven others are still missing, according to the court of Sfax which noted the presence of 35 people in total on the boat.
Faouzi Masmoudi, spokesman for the court, told AFP that there were 35 people on the boat, including women and children, most of whom were Tunisians. He added that the boat capsized shortly after it left.
«One child and two women were among the dead», he added. According to him, «the shipwreck occurred less than an hour after departure from Sidi Mansour», a locality known as a departure point for illegal emigration.
Since the beginning of the year, Sfax has been the epicentre of attempts to cross the Mediterranean illegally from the Tunisian coast, the closest point being less than 130 kilometres from the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Death of an infant in the tragedy
The Sfax court has opened an investigation to determine the causes of the accident. «It is possible that the boat was carrying a small number of sub-Saharan African nationals and that they are among the missing», said the spokesman, stressing that the search for any survivors was continuing.
Another shipwreck occurred on Friday night just 120 metres from the coast at Gabès, a port city around 150 km south of Sfax.
A young Tunisian aged 20 died in this tragedy, as did an infant whose parents were among the 13 people rescued, all Tunisians.
Five other Tunisians are still missing. Tunisia, plunged into a financial crisis, has also been gripped by high political tensions since the coup in which President Kais Saied seized all power on 25 July 2021. Around twenty opponents have been imprisoned since February.
Walid FAYAZ
