TUNIS – Seventy-five people are missing after a crowded boat of migrants sank off the coast of Tunisia on Wednesday, according to the International Organization for Migration and a security official, as the number of individuals undertaking the perilous journey to Europe grows.

The IOM reported that 24 people were rescued from the boat, which capsized off the coast of Sfax after leaving the beaches of Zawara in Libya.

The coastguard has recovered a body, according to a Tunisian security official, while they continue to search for 75 others who have gone missing.

Hundreds of migrants have drowned off the coast of Tunisia in recent months, with the number of attempted crossings from Tunisia and Libya to Italy increasing.

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of people have attempted the deadly Mediterranean trip.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 123,000 migrants came in Italy in 2021, up from more than 95,000 in 2020.

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