34 migrants missing as boat capsizes off Tunisia's coast

TUNISIA: Thirty-four migrants were reportedly missing after a boat capsized off Tunisia's southeastern coast, according to an official.

The boat, carrying 38 migrants from sub-Saharan countries, left Tunisia's Sfax province on Thursday heading for the European coast, Xinhua news agency quoted the official as saying on Friday.

Four migrants have been rescued, and the search for the missing is currently underway, he noted.

The Tunisian Coast Guard has reportedly stopped 56 boats from leaving the country, bound for Italy, in the past 48 hours.

Houssem Jebabli from the Tunisian National Guard said that more than 3,000 migrants had been detained attempting to leave the country, reports the BBC.

This is the fifth migrant boat to sink in two days and authorities believe it was heading for Italy.

Tunisia has become a launch pad for migrants to leave, bound for Europe.

UN data reveales that at least 12,000 migrants who arrived in Italy this year left from Tunisia, compared to 1,300 in the same time period last year.

Last month, Tunisian President Kais Saied accused sub-Saharan African migrants living in the country of causing a crime wave and described them as a demographic threat.