Europe
22:45, 10-May-2019
At least 70 migrants drown off Tunisian coast
Updated
09:27, 11-May-2019
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Up to 70 migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya have drowned after their vessel capsized. 16 migrants were rescued around 64 kilometers off the coast of Tunisia.
The boat left Zuwara on the northwestern Libyan coast on Thursday, according to the Tunisian defense ministry.
A fishing boat picked up 16 survivors, who were transferred on board one of the three military vessels involved in the search and rescue operation.
Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has vowed to close the country's ports to migrants, although earlier Friday dozens who had been rescued at sea disembarked in Sicily.
The Mediterranean is the "world's deadliest sea crossing" according to the United Nations refugee agency, with one person in 14 dying on the route from Libya to Europe last year.
(Cover: A Spanish aid organization rescued 420 migrants who were attempting the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in June 2017. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): AFP