Tunisia Says 612 Migrants Rescued, 18 Bodies Recovered At Sea

Faizan Hashmi Published March 18, 2025 | 08:10 AM

Tunis, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Mar, 2025) Tunisia's national guard said on Monday its forces had rescued 612 migrants and recovered the bodies of 18 others in several operations overnight off the country's Mediterranean coast.

Sharing images of some of those rescued, including women and children, after their boats capsized, the force said they were all migrants from sub-Saharan African countries attempting to cross the sea to Europe.

The survivors were rescued in several operations in the Sfax region to the east of the centre of the country after their boats capsized or broke down, according to the national guard.

Exhausted people including women and children, some of whom appear to be dead, can be seen in the images. Some are pictured clinging on to large buoys.

In another image, a woman struggles to hoist a child, his body rigid and apparently lifeless, aboard the rescue boat.

Maritime guard members "succeeded in thwarting several separate attempts to reach Europe clandestinely", the national guard said in a press release.