The bodies of four people believed to be African migrants, including a pregnant woman, have been recovered off the coast of Kerkennah Island in the Mediterranean by Tunisian authorities.
According to a report from the regional prosecutor, the bodies were taken to a hospital in Sfax after being discovered early on Christmas Day. They appeared to have drowned several days earlier.
The authorities in Tunisia say that the people who set out on the boat came either from from Tunisia or neighbouring Libya. The authorities said they were investigating and trying to find out if there were any other passengers.
Thousands of people are thought to have attempted a crossing from Africa into Europe via Tunisia this year. Many were fleeing conflict or poverty on the continent.
However, an increasing number are said to be Tunisians, young people or entire families whose country is struggling with a protracted and worsening economic crisis and political tension.
According to the International Organisation for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project, around 2,000 people have died or have gone missing in the Mediterranean this year, mostly on a central Mediterranean route, which includes Tunisia.
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