40 migrants, including infants, die in boat sinking off Tunisia

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Forty people, including infants, died when a boat carrying migrants seeking to reach Europe sank Wednesday off the Tunisian coast, according to local judicial authorities. Around thirty other people were rescued.

Tunisian naval units that arrived on the scene rescued 30 other migrants aboard the boat which sank off the Mediterranean port of Mahdia, in central Tunisia, Mahdia court spokesman Walid Charbi said.

Charbi said those on board were from sub-Saharan Africa, without providing further details.

The prosecution has ordered an investigation to determine the causes and circumstances of the sinking, Charbi said.

Mahdia is Tunisia’s second port of call for boat departures carrying people from Tunisia and elsewhere in Africa as well as Asia seeking to reach Europe.

Tunisian security forces have stepped up efforts to prevent migrants from reaching or crossing the sea – a journey that can be deadly.