At least 40 migrants, among them infants, have died after a boat bound for Europe capsized off Tunisia’s central coast on Wednesday, according to local judicial officials.
The vessel, which had around 70 people on board, went down near the Mediterranean port of Mahdia. Tunisian naval units rescued about 30 survivors, said Mahdia court spokesperson Walid Charbi, reports AP-UNB.
All those aboard were from sub-Saharan Africa, Charbi added, without elaborating further on their nationalities or the boat’s point of departure.
Authorities have launched an investigation to determine what caused the vessel to sink.
Mahdia has become one of Tunisia’s main departure hubs for boats carrying migrants from Africa and Asia hoping to reach Europe, mainly via Italy.
Tunisian security forces have intensified efforts to intercept migrant boats and curb irregular crossings amid a rise in deadly shipwrecks along the country’s coast.
