The Tunisian Ministry of the Interior has announced that the death toll in the crash of a boat carrying migrants off the coast of Tunisia has risen to 12 as 6 more bodies have been found.

According to a security source, 37 people, all of them Tunisians, took part in the attempted illegal crossing, who went from the coast of the province of Sfax (east) towards the Italian coast. The ship sank on Wednesday evening Thursday off the coast of the coastal province of Mahdia and six bodies were recovered on Sunday after six bodies were recovered on Thursday, according to the Interior Ministry, which confirmed the rescue of 14 people.

According to official statistics, the Tunisian security authorities intercepted or rescued about 500 migrants in a few days. With the improvement of weather conditions in spring and summer, the pace of illegal migration attempts from the coast of Tunisia and Libya to Italy is increasing. More than 42,500 migrants used the Central Mediterranean route between January and July, up 44% on the first seven months of 2021, according to data from the European agency Frontex.