A badly welded makeshift metal boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia near Sfax on Thursday. Tunisian authorities have confirmed at least 13 of the Sudanese migrants aboard dead, while another 27 remain missing, AFP reports.

According to a Tunisian court official, only two out of the group of 42 migrants who set off from the small town of Jebiniana, near Sfax, are confirmed to have survived the wreck.

The official told Reuters that the Tunisian authorities had so far recovered the bodies of 13 of the Sudanese migrants.

The central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy is one of the most dangerous in the world.

Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of the dangers of boarding badly soldered metal boats, which have become common for departures from Tunisia.

Unseaworthy vessels

The boats are often not seaworthy and break up soon after leaving shore. Despite the high risk, their use has grown in the past year, particularly since Tunisia overtook Libya as the most frequent departure point for migrants wishing to cross the Mediterranean.

The smuggling gangs that use the metal boats might charge a lower price, but many find that they are not strong enough to make it across the Mediterranean from Tunisia to Italy.

In 2023, the IOM estimates that at least 2,498 people died on the central Mediterranean route.

Since the beginning of this year, the toll of the dead or missing had already reached 88 by February 1.

With Reuters and AFP