41 migrants feared dead after boat capsizes off coast of Italy

Forty-one people are believed dead after a boat carrying migrants capsized off Tunisia in rough seas, the Italian Red Cross and rescue groups reported.

The survivors claimed to have departed Sfax, Tunisia, on a metal boat on August 3 with a total of 45 persons. A large wave toppled the ship about six hours into their journey, according to RAI state television.

The four people rescued managed to clamber onto an empty boat nearby and survive using inner tubes, according to a statement from the Red Cross.

The migrants rescued by the Rimona were then transferred onto an Italian coast guard vessel which brought them to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday, said Sea-Watch’s Paul Wagner.

The International Organization of Migration said that the shipwreck brings to more than 1,800 the number of people dead and missing in the central Mediterranean, the most active and dangerous migration route in the world.

The Red Cross said the conditions of the four survivors, being cared for on Lampedusa, were good and that they would be transferred to the Italian mainland soon.

Rough seas over the weekend resulted in a series of shipwrecks and dramatic rescue attempts to save survivors. Italian authorities rescued dozens of migrants from the sea and from rocky reefs off Lampedusa, but at least 30 people were reported missing by survivors from capsized vessels. Eight bodies washed ashore back in Sfax.

Libya’s lawless coasts used to be the main departure point for migrant smuggling operations. But in recent months, Tunisia’s eastern coast, notably the port city of Sfax, has become the main launching point for migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, to get to Italy and other parts of Europe in small boats.