12 dead, two missing after migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

Eleven bodies were recovered by Tunisia's coastguard after a boat carrying Tunisian migrants sank off the Tunisian coast, with three others still missing, according to the National Guard. The search for the missing continued, backed by coastguard, military, civil protection teams, and two helicopters. Only one person was rescued alive from the boat that set off early Thursday with 15 migrants, mostly young people.

The survivor, adrift at sea for 48 hours, was rescued by a commercial vessel. The victims included seven members of a family and a man with his pregnant wife, according to the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights. The migrants originated from the Ben Guerdane area in southeastern Tunisia. Protesters in a nearby town demanded faster search operations, but police responded with tear gas.

The central Mediterranean route is notorious for being one of the world's deadliest migration routes, used by migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking to reach Europe. Human rights organizations have criticized a migration agreement between Tunisia and the European Union for fueling serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia, urging the EU to suspend funding for such activities involving Tunisian security forces.