5 Italy-Bound Tunisian Migrants Drown, 49 Rescued in Med

The bodies of five Tunisian migrants trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa were recovered from the sea Saturday while 49 others were rescued, Tunisia's coast guard said.

The coast guard station in Teboulba said the five migrants who had drowned were recovered and the others rescued in the night off the town's coast.

The migrants, most of them in their mid-20s, had set off on Friday night on board two boats which had quickly taken on water.

Tunisian and Italian authorities have been at the forefront of rescue efforts for a flood of mainly African migrants fleeing Libya and bound for Europe on unseaworthy boats that run into trouble.

In April alone, coast guard and other vessels rescued more than 300 African migrants in Mediterranean waters off Zarziz in southern Tunisia.