Tunisia Recovers 28 Bodies from Sea near Libya

W460

Tunisian rescuers have recovered the bodies of at least 28 people from the sea near Libya's maritime border since Friday and more are expected, local officials said.

The victims were found in an area that has seen many boatloads of illegal migrants capsize.

"Since yesterday 28 bodies have been recovered," Fethi Abaab, the director of El Ketf port in Ben Guerdane, told Agence France Presse on Saturday, adding that women were among the victims.

But he warned that this was only a provisional toll as fishermen have seen several more bodies floating in the sea.

A rescue operations official said the bodies were badly decomposed and said he believed they were migrants who had been trying to make their way to Europe in search of a better life.

They were "probably" some of the people who went missing earlier this week when their boat capsized after leaving the Libyan port of Zwara, heading for Italy, the official said.

Mired in unrest and political chaos, Libya has been a launchpad for illegal migrants trying to reach 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.

Last week, Libyan rescuers recovered the bodies of around 170 people after a boat carrying illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa sank, the coastguard said.

The International Organization for Migration warned that unrest in Libya could lead more migrants to risk their lives and take to unseaworthy boats to try to reach Italy.

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