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Emergency services stand in the port of Sfax next to the covered bodies of the victims of a boat accident
Photo: Houssem Zouari / dpa
At least 20 migrants, including four pregnant women, were killed in a boat accident off the coast of Tunisia.
A total of 19 of the 20 killed were women.
The Tunisian authorities announced that the search for 13 missing persons is ongoing.
The overloaded boat, which appeared to be in poor condition, carried a total of 37 people, three of whom were from Tunisia and the rest from sub-Saharan Africa, according to a court spokesman for the Sfax region.
Every year, thousands of people from Tunisia and Libya dare to make the dangerous crossing to Europe.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1200 people died in 2019.
From January to August this year, the IOM had counted more than 900 deaths.
According to the Tunisian Economic and Social Rights Forum, at least 12,000 migrants came to Italy by boat from Tunisia this year.
Since Tunisia's coast is only a few hundred kilometers away from mainland Europe, the North African state is always the contact point for migrants who want to travel to Europe via the dangerous Mediterranean route.
Due to the longstanding economic crisis and high unemployment in the country, Tunisians are increasingly trying to get to Europe this way.
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ene / dpa / AP / AFP