Volunteers in Tunisia have continued searching for two people missing after a migrant boat carrying 15 people sank off the country’s southeastern coast, as the tragedy sparked violent protests in Ben Guerdane.
Footage verified showed volunteers in the nearby city of Zarzis heading to sea on fishing boats on Monday to search for the missing migrants.
The boat, believed to have been travelling towards Italy, sank late on Friday after departing from an area between Zarzis and Ben Guerdane. It went down about 14 nautical miles (26km) off the coast of Zarzis.
Twelve bodies had been recovered by Sunday, according to Tunisia’s National Guard, while one person survived after reportedly drifting at sea for about 48 hours before being rescued by a commercial vessel.
The tragedy triggered grief and anger in Ben Guerdane, where violent protests erupted on Sunday night.
Most of the passengers were from the city, with the National Guard saying 14 of those aboard were from Ben Guerdane and one from Zarzis.
During the protests, demonstrators burned tyres and blocked roads, while police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
The protesters called for improved living conditions and greater economic development, arguing that years of marginalisation and limited opportunities were forcing young Tunisians to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean in search of better prospects in Europe.
Mostafa Abdelkebir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, said seven members of the same family were among those on the boat.
He told Reuters that a hospital in Ben Guerdane had received at least 19 bodies of migrants recovered from the sea over two days, although it remained unclear whether all the bodies came from the same boat.
Authorities are conducting genetic tests to identify the bodies and establish the exact number of people who were aboard the vessel.
The scale of the tragedy has prompted calls from some Tunisians for a national day of mourning.
Lawmaker Imad Oulad Jibril described the disaster as “the tragedy of a nation that sees its youth fleeing the hardships of the land only to be swallowed by the sea.”
The opposition Democratic Bloc party also linked the sinking to Tunisia’s economic difficulties, asking. “When crossing the sea becomes easier than living in Tunisia, we must ask: Who is at fault?”
The latest incident has revived memories of previous migrant boat disasters along Tunisia’s southeastern coast.
In 2018, more than 100 people died or went missing in the Kerkennah disaster after a migrant boat sank, while at least 18 people died in another sinking off Zarzis in 2022, triggering weeks of protests.
Tunisia’s southeastern coast is about 145km (90 miles) from Italy’s Lampedusa, making the region a major departure point for migrants attempting to reach Europe.
The central Mediterranean remains one of the world’s deadliest migration routes. The International Organisation for Migration says at least 821 migrants have died or gone missing on the route this year, more than twice the number recorded during the same period last year.
Across the Mediterranean, at least 1,065 migrants have died or gone missing, according to the organisation.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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