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Asylum seekers in the Mediterranean (archive image)
Photo: Bruno Thevenin / AP
When two boats went down off the coast of Tunisia, at least 39 people were killed.
165 more could be saved, said the Tunisian Ministry of Defense.
According to the authorities, nine women and four children were among the dead.
The rescue operation is still ongoing.
According to the information, the migrants left for Italy on Tuesday night.
The boats were finally discovered by the Tunisian coast guard off the coast of the city of Sfax.
According to a spokesman for the authorities, the ships were dilapidated and apparently massively overloaded.
Another boat accident off the Canary Islands
The Spanish authorities meanwhile reported a boat accident off the coast of the Canary Islands.
The coast guard picked up dozens of people in an unseaworthy boat off the Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic and discovered a corpse, wrote the AFP news agency.
The people on board the boat said that four other people died during the crossing.
According to a spokeswoman for the rescue services, a total of 47 migrants were brought to the port of Arguineguín on the island of Gran Canaria.
Two people had to be treated for minor injuries.
Last weekend, the coast guard had rescued 107 people from distress off the Canary Islands.
The number of refugees who dare the dangerous crossing from the African coast across the Atlantic has recently increased massively.
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fek / dpa / AFP / AP