At least six die as several migrant ships sink off Italy and Tunisia
Several migrant ships carrying more than 100 people in total have sunk across Italy and Tunisia.
Key points:
- 57 people were rescued from two boats which sunk in rough seas
- 34 migrants were also rescued in a separate Lampedusa shipwreck
- Italy's sea migration is surging, with almost 92,000 arrivals so far this year
At least four people died and another 51 remain missing after a ship sank off Tunisia's Kerkennah islands, a judicial official told Reuters on Sunday.
All those onboard were from sub-Saharan Africa.
Another two sunken migrant ships left a mother and child dead and around 30 more are missing off the southern Italian coast on Sunday.
Fifty-seven people have been rescued from the two boats which sunk off the island of Lampedusa in rough seas, the coast guard said on Sunday.
The boats had likely set off from Tunisia's migration hotspot Sfax, the coast guard said.
Italy's Ansa news agency earlier identified the pair as a mother and one-year-old child from the Ivory Coast.
One vessel carried 48 people and the second 42, according to survivors who spoke to Ansa.
Survivors were picked up 46 kilometres south-west of Lampedusa, the news agency said.
Thirty-four migrants were also rescued from a Lampedusa cliff late on Friday following a separate shipwreck.
A child and two pregnant women were among them, the Italian mountain rescue service said.
Provincial police chief Emanuele Ricifari said whoever allowed the migrants to sail in such bad weather "is a crazy criminal with no scruples", according to local news website Agrigento Oggi.
Italy is experiencing a surge in sea migration, with almost 92,000 arrivals so far this year, according to Interior Ministry data.
Tunisia is also facing a record wave of migration, replacing Libya as the region's main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East for Europe.
Reuters