TUNIS: Four pregnant women were among 20 migrants whose bodies were found off Tunisia’s coast after their smuggling boat sank, Tunisian authorities said Friday, as search efforts continued for 13 others believed missing.
Nineteen of the 20 migrants who died in Thursday’s sinking were women, according to Mourad Torki, the court spokesman for the Sfax region in central Tunisia.
Coast guard officials and local fishermen retrieved the bodies and brought them to shore, and transferred them in white body bags to a nearby hospital where autopsies were carried out.
Four migrants were rescued, Torki said: One remained under medical supervision Friday and another fled the hospital.
The boat, overloaded and in poor condition, was carrying 37 people — three Tunisians and others from sub-Saharan Africa, Torki said. Coast guard boats and navy divers were searching for the 13 missing, but found no new bodies or survivors Friday, amid strong winds and high waves in the area.
Tunisian authorities say they have intercepted several migrant smuggling boats recently, but that the number of attempts has been growing, notably between the Sfax region and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Migrant smuggling boats frequently leave from the coast of Tunisia and neighboring Libya carrying people from across Africa, including a growing number of Tunisians fleeing prolonged economic difficulties in their country.
Four pregnant women among 20 migrants dead in Tunisia sinking
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Four pregnant women among 20 migrants dead in Tunisia sinking
- Nineteen of the 20 migrants who died in Thursday’s sinking were women
- Coast guard officials and local fishermen retrieved the bodies and brought them to shore
Syrian government takes over Qamishli airport security in Hasaka
- Qamishli airport has been out of service for the past 15 years and was the only major airport under SDF control
- The Ministry of Interior is conducting the handover process to restore full state authority over vital facilities
LONDON: Syrian authorities have taken over security responsibilities at Qamishli airport in Hasaka Province, northeastern Syrian Arab Republic, as part of the implementation of the agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Ministry of Interior, represented by the Directorate of Airport and Border Security, is conducting the handover process on Sunday to restore full state authority over vital facilities and enhance security procedures at airports and border crossings, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Qamishli airport has been out of service for the past 15 years and was the only major airport under SDF control.
In January, the Syrian army entered Hasakah and deployed throughout the Jazira region to secure it under an agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF.
Under the agreement, both the Syrian government and the SDF agreed to a ceasefire and a phased integration of military and administrative structures. It also includes deploying government security forces and transferring control of civil institutions and border areas to the state, the SANA added.
