41 dead as migrant boat capsizes in Tunisia

Forty-one people are believed dead as a migrant boat carrying Africans capsized off Tunisia.  

The Italian Red Cross and rescue groups reported that according to four survivors, the metal boat left the Tunisian city of Sfax on August 3 with forty-five people aboard and a huge wave overturned the boat around six hours into their journey, reports Saudi news website Asharq Al-Awsat, August 10. 

The Red Cross said in a statement that the four survived by using inner tubes and managed to climb onto another empty vessel nearby.

READ: 27 migrants found dead in desert near Tunisia-Libya border

Many migrants leave from Sfax with the objective of reaching the island of Lampedusa in Sicily, Italy. Most attempting to make the dangerous crossings from North Africa are from the sub-Saharan African region. 

Despite Italy’s anti-immigration Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni’s galvanizing of the EU to join it in efforts to pressure Tunisia to crack down on the smuggling operations, migrant boats continue to set off in high numbers. 

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT