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More bodies found in Tunisia migrant ship sinking feared to have killed more than 80

by Reuters
Friday, 12 July 2019 13:44 GMT

An African migrant who, a government source and the Tunisian Red Crescent said, was rescued after the boat he was travelling capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Tunisian Coast, lies inside a local Red Crescent chapter in Zarzis, Tunisia in this picture obtained by Reuters July 4, 2019. Mongi Slim/Social Media via REUTERS

Image Caption and Rights Information

The boat capsized after setting off for Europe from neighboring Libya

TUNIS, July 12 (Reuters) - More bodies were found from a ship packed with migrants that sank off the Tunisian coast last week, bringing the official death toll to 72 in a disaster feared to have killed more than 80 people, the Tunisian Red Crescent said on Friday.

The boat capsized after setting off for Europe from neighboring Libya. Four survivors have been rescued, who told Tunisian coast guards the ship was carrying around 86 people.

The coast of western Libya is one of the main departure points for African migrants hoping to reach Europe.

The International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project estimates 682 migrants have died in the Mediterranean so far in 2019.

Thousands of migrants have died in each of the past several years making the journey, although the numbers this year have so far been lower due in part to European-backed efforts to halt people smuggling from Libya.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara Editing by Peter Graff)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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