72 bodies recovered from sunken migrant boat off Tunisia coast

Published Jul 12, 2019

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Tunis - Tunisia's navy has recovered nine more bodies from a

migrant boat that sank off the Tunisian coast this week, a

humanitarian official said on Friday.

This brings the number of bodies retrieved so far in the incident to

72, according to Mongi Slim, the head of the Tunisian Red Crescent

branch in the southern province of Medenine.

The boat sank off Tunisia's southern town of Zarzis on Wednesday

while carrying 86 African migrants. Four of them were rescued at the

time, although one died later in hospital.

Forty-seven bodies were recovered on Thursday after corpses floated

to the water's surface, Slim told dpa. The dead included a child and

five women, he added.

The boat had set sail for Europe on Monday from neighbouring Libya.

The Tunisian coast has become a common launch point for thousands

of migrants, including Tunisians, seeking a better life in Europe.

In May, at least 70 migrants died after their boat sank off the

Tunisian coastal city of Sfax.

dpa

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