Migration boat sinking off Tunisia results in 4 deaths and 2 missing

According to Tunisian authorities, two individuals are still missing and four people were killed after their inflatable boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia while travelling to Europe.

More and more young individuals, and even whole families, are attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in Tunisia amid protracted economic and social crises in the hope of finding a better life on the other side.

According to Tunisian officials, the boat that drowned on Monday in heavy weather near Cape Angela, approximately 36 miles from the capital, Tunis, was thought to be carrying 16 passengers and headed for Italy.

As of Tuesday, the coast guard reported having saved 10 people and found four corpses, while divers from Tunisia’s navy and civil protection agency searched the region for the two missings.

The murders of 18 migrants from Zarzis in southern Tunisia last month shocked the community. In September, a boat carrying eight migrants sank off the coast of Chebba, one of the primary entry places for individuals seeking refuge who want to travel to Italy.

Regularly, vessels attempting to undertake the perilous sea trip are intercepted by the Tunisian coast guard. According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 1,300 migrants—many of whom departed from Tunisia—have perished or gone missing this year while travelling over the central Mediterranean route.