20 migrants die in a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia

Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities recovered the bodies of 20 people who appeared to have drowned after a shipwreck off the country’s Mediterranean coastline, near a popular point of departure for migrants attempting to reach Europe by boat. The country’s National Guard said in a statement that coast guard members dispatched to the sinking ship rescued five people and retrieved the bodies of 20 others 15 miles off the coast north of Sfax. The iron boats that migrants and smugglers use to attempt to cross the Mediterranean are often unseaworthy. Though there is no official count, international groups and Tunisian NGOs believe hundreds have perished at sea this year.