Status: 03.07.2021 3:41 p.m.
After a ship accident off the Tunisian coast, at least 43 migrants are still missing. 84 people could be saved. They tried to get into the EU from Libya via the Mediterranean Sea.
In the Mediterranean, another boat with migrants on board got into distress and sank. As the Tunisian Red Crescent announced, at least 43 people are still missing. 84 people could have been saved so far. The rescued came from Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad and Bangladesh.
The accident occurred off the coast of Tunisia. According to survivors, the boat set out on Tuesday night from the coastal city of Suara in northwest Libya towards Europe and sank off the southern Tunisian city of Zarzis.
170 dead this year
Time and again, people from Tunisia and Libya set out on the perilous crossing to Europe in the hope of work and a better life – mostly in summer when the weather improves. People set sail from Africa in small, often overcrowded and hardly seaworthy boats. Mostly they start from Tunisia and Libya, often the Italian island of Lampedusa is the destination. According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 170 people died on this Mediterranean route in the first half of the year alone.