Death toll in Tunisia boat accident rises

More than 80 African migrants in total are feared to have drowned in the incident. REUTERS
More than 80 African migrants in total are feared to have drowned in the incident. REUTERS

TUNIS –The number of bodies recovered by Tunisia after a ship packed with migrants sank off its coast last week has risen to 82, in one of the worst disasters in recent years, the Tunisian Red Crescent said on Saturday.

The boat capsized after setting off for Europe from neighboring Libya. Survivors told the Tunisian coast guard last week that it had been carrying 86 people.

Tunisian fishermen rescued four people but one later died in hospital, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said last week.

“After a week of searches, all the 82 bodies who were in the boat that sank last week were recovered,” Mongi Slim, an official of the Tunisian Red Crescent, told Reuters. (Reuters)

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