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News > Tunisia

50 Migrants Die When Dinghy Sinks in the Mediterranean Sea

  • Sea-Eye 4 performing salvage operations, Mediterranean Sea, May 18, 2021.

    Sea-Eye 4 performing salvage operations, Mediterranean Sea, May 18, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @PyeHumble

Published 18 May 2021
Opinion

The boat departed from Libya on Sunday and sank due to overweight and weather conditions such as continuous rain, strong winds, and high waves.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday reported that at least 50 people drowned off the coast of Tunisia when the dinghy carrying them to Europe capsized.

RELATED:

Over 300 Migrants Rescued off Libyan Coast -IOM

The boat departed from Libya on Sunday and sank due to overweight and weather conditions such as continuous rain, strong winds, and high waves.

About 30 African migrants were rescued by coast guard units and taken to Tunisia, according to IOM spokesperson Safa Msahli.

This would be the deadliest deadly shipwreck so far in 2021 off the coast of Tunisia after 41 people were shipwrecked on April 14.

On May 14, the Red Crescent also reported the disappearance at sea of at least 17 migrants from sub-Saharan and Sahelian countries. They were drifting in a dinghy that had left one of the beaches surrounding the Libyan city of Zawiya.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), around 23,500 African migrants have reached the coasts of Italy and Spain.

Approximately 633 people have disappeared at sea, mostly on the route from Tunisia and Libya to Italy, which is considered one of the deadliest routes in the world. So far this year, over 7,000 migrants have been intercepted by patrol boats and returned to Libya.

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Safa Msahli
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