BEN GUERDANE, Tunisia: Tunisian rescuers yesterday recovered the bodies of at least 14 people from the sea near Libya’s maritime border, in an area that has seen many boatloads of illegal migrants capsize.
A child’s body was among those plucked from the sea by the Tunisian coastguard and taken to Ben Guerdane, a photographer said.
Hospital official Abdelkarim Chafroud said that 14 bodies were retrieved and rescuers were still trying to recover three more.
Mired in unrest and political chaos, Libya has been a launchpad for illegal migrants seeking a better life in Europe and who turn to people smugglers to cross the Mediterranean, mainly to Italy.
Since the end of July, dozens of people who have set off on rickety boats from Libya have died at sea, and dozens more have gone missing, presumed drowned.
AFP
