Tunisia’s Red Crescent says the ship had left Libya’s Zuwarah with migrants from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Bangladesh.
At least 43 migrants and refugees are feared to have drowned while 84 were rescued after a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia, the Tunisian Red Crescent said on Saturday.
The boat had left Zuwarah, on the northwest coast of Libya, with migrants and refugees from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Bangladesh, while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, according to the organization.
“The navy rescued 84 migrants and 43 more people drowned in a ship that sailed from Zuwara to Libya for Europe,” said Red Crescent official Mongi Slim.
#Tunisia: 43 migrants disappear and 84 were rescued after their ship left the port of #Zuwara, #Libya, tombat #Zarzis, said the head of @ Red crescent section a #Medenine, adding the rescued are mostly from #Sudan, #Eritrea i #Bangladesh. #TAP_En pic.twitter.com/ipHQmhQ1wA
– TAP News Agency (@TapNewsAgency) July 3, 2021
Libya is a frequent starting point for migrants bound for Europe who make the dangerous passage of the Mediterranean Sea.
Since 2014, more than 20,000 migrants and refugees have died at sea while trying to reach Europe from Africa.
It is feared that at least 866 people have drowned while making the trip across the Mediterranean from North Africa this year.
More than 40 people died when a boat sank off the coast of Tunisia in April. In March, 39 died off the coast of Sfax.
In June last year, at least 60 died when a ship sank.
Smugglers throw boats, many of them scarce rubber boats or scratched fishing boats, full of migrants waiting to reach European shores to seek asylum.
Some flee conflict or persecution, while many in the hundreds of thousands flee poverty.
Nearly 19,800 migrants arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year against just over 6,700 in the same period last year, according to data from the Italian Interior Ministry.
