9 migrants dead in shipwreck off Tunisia

TUNIS:

Tunisian authorities have found the bodies of nine migrants following a shipwreck off the country's Mediterranean coast, with 27 people rescued and six others still missing, a judicial official told AFP on Thursday.

The North African country as well as neighbouring Libya have become key departure points for migrants, often from other parts of the continent, who risk perilous sea journeys in the hopes of reaching better lives in Europe.

Farid Ben Jha, a public prosecution spokesman for the eastern governorates of Monastir and Mahdia, said that survivors of the latest shipwreck told authorities their boat had capsized after setting sail on Tuesday night.

They had left from the coastal city of Sfax further south, Tunisia's main departure point for migrants heading to Italy, Ben Jha said.

A fisherman who noticed the sinking boat had alerted the authorities, he added.

According to the judicial spokesman, all 42 passengers were from sub-Saharan African countries, and including eight women.