4 individuals who survived the catastrophe advised rescuers that they had been on a migrant boat that had set off from the Tunisian metropolis of Sfax final Thursday and sank on its strategy to Europe.
The survivors – three males and a girl – are initially from the Ivory Coast and Guinea and reached the Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday.
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They advised rescuers that they had been on a seven-metre lengthy boat carrying 45 individuals, together with three youngsters. Solely 15 persons are understood to have been carrying life vests.
The boat reportedly sank inside hours of leaving after being hit by a big wave. The survivors had been rescued by a cargo ship after which transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel.
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Sfax, a port metropolis about 130km from Lampedusa, is a well-liked gateway for migrants looking for a greater life in Europe.
Greater than 1 800 individuals have misplaced their lives in 2023 within the crossing from North Africa to Europe. Charity teams and Italian patrol boats have rescued one other 2,000 individuals who have arrived on Lampedusa not too long ago.
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Essentially the most harmful migrant crossing on this planet
Greater than 17,000 deaths and disappearances within the central Mediterranean have been recorded by the United Nations (UN) since 2014.
Final month, the EU signed a $118m (R2.2 billion) take care of Tunisia in an effort to curb “irregular” migration.
The far-right administration in Italy has applied a measure that compels rescue vessels to moor at distant ports, as an alternative of permitting them to dump rescued migrants at places like Lampedusa or Sicily.
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That is geared toward distributing incoming migrants evenly throughout the nation. NGOs declare that the coverage diminishes their capability to successfully patrol areas the place maritime accidents regularly happen.
Tunisia has seen a wave of racism in opposition to black Africans in current months and makes an attempt to depart the nation by boat have elevated.
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