At least 29 people dead and 11 rescued after small boats sink off the coast of Tunisia

At least 29 people have died after small boats sunk off the coast of Tunisia over the weekend, the Tunisian National Guard has said.

The migrants, from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, were trying make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, the Tunisian National Guard said on Sunday.

Tunisian fishermen recovered 19 bodies, while others were recovered by the Coast Guard, who said they also rescued 11 survivors.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many more people might have been aboard boats that sank.

A Tunisian NGO that tracks migration issues said five boats are believed to have sunk in the past two days and that 67 people remain unaccounted for.

Two other bodies were recovered in waters off the Tunisian port of Sfax, National Guard spokesman Houssameddine Jebabli said.

People fleeing conflict or poverty routinely take boats from Tunisian shores toward Europe, even though the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

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