By AFP More by this AuthorTUNISMore than 50 people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, died when a boat carrying migrants bound for Italy sank off Tunisia, a health official said Thursday in an updated toll. Another 17 bodies were recovered, raising the total to 52 since the authorities were alerted by fishermen near the port city of Sfax on Tuesday. The navy and coast guards used divers and a helicopter to search for bodies, most of which were found in the same area, a spokesman for a court in Sfax told AFP. Many sub-Saharan Africans arrived in Tunisia from Libya in the months after April last year, when strongman Khalifa Haftar launched a failed campaign to take the capital Tripoli. "We need to provide people with meaningful alternatives that can prevent extreme choices in the search for a better life," Hamdan added.

Source: Daily Nation June 12, 2020 03:22 UTC