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At least 76 people have been declared missing after the sinking of an overcrowded boat off the coast of Tunisia, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced.
The boat had set off from Zavara beach in Libya and sank this morning off the coast of Sfax, an OME spokesman said.
Rescue operations are under way as only one body has been recovered so far from the coast guard, Tunisian authorities said.
24 people have been rescued alive while the remaining 76 are presumed drowned.
Dozens of people have drowned in Tunisian waters in recent months. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that more than 1,500 people have died or disappeared in the area in 2021, as the central Mediterranean road has become the deadliest crossing for migrants.
Tunisia has been rocked by a political and economic crisis since the closure of parliament by President Kais Saied late last year, following protests against poverty and lack of food supplies, writes the Morning Star network.
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