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2 dead, 12 missing after migrant boat capsizes off Tunisian coast
A migrant boat capsized off southern Tunisia, killing at least two people and leaving 12 missing, with one survivor rescued. The national guard reported the incident on Saturday, and search operations were ongoing.
A boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of southern Tunisia, killing at least two people and leaving 12 missing, Tunisia's national guard said on Saturday. One survivor was rescued, according to multiple reports.
Guard spokesperson Houssem Eddine Jebabli told state news agency TAP that authorities recovered two bodies and transferred them to a hospital on the nearby island of Djerba. He told national radio Mosaique FM that about 15 people were believed to have been aboard the boat when it departed between the cities of Zarzis and Ben Guerdane.
The boat had set off early Thursday, and a commercial ship found the sole survivor on Saturday wearing a life jacket, Mosaique reported, citing testimony from the survivor. A helicopter and coast guard boats were dispatched to search for more survivors, according to an Associated Press photojournalist at the scene. The migrants were believed to be headed toward Italy.
Conflicting Accounts of the Toll
Reports on the number of casualties have varied. While the Associated Press and MassLive reported two dead and 12 missing, the Daily Express reported that 11 bodies had been found, with three missing and one survivor. The Daily Express also stated that the boat capsized around 14 nautical miles off Tunisia's south-east coast on Friday night, whereas the AP account indicates the boat set off early Thursday.
All of the migrants on board were reportedly from the Ben Guerdane area in south-east Tunisia, according to Reuters. Dozens gathered in the town late on Saturday calling for search operations to be accelerated, and police reportedly fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
Migration Context and Regional History
Zarzis has long been a departure point for Tunisians and others from Africa and beyond attempting to cross the Mediterranean toward Europe. The city witnessed a similar tragedy in 2022, when a boat carrying 18 people went missing, sparking weeks of protests as families accused authorities of failing to properly search for their relatives and burying some recovered bodies without identifying them or informing their families.
Migrant departures from Tunisia have fallen sharply since the European Union and Tunisia signed a sweeping agreement in 2023. That agreement included EU funding and technical support for Tunisian border control and coast guard training to help Tunisia curb irregular migration and deter human traffickers. The EU allocated 105 million euros ($121 million) in migration-related support to Tunisia in 2023 alone.
Despite the decline in departures, the central Mediterranean remains the world's deadliest migration route, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The IOM said the number of migrant deaths on the route had more than doubled in the first four months of this year compared to 2025, with at least 914 migrants having died or gone missing along the route since the start of the year.
Responses and Concerns
Rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia since the EU agreement, including reports of collective expulsions, racial violence, arbitrary detention, and abuses against Black migrants. In July, Amnesty International said EU support for border control in Tunisia continued to fuel serious rights violations, adding that refugees and asylum seekers were being deliberately trapped in a system that offers neither protection nor a safe way out.
The search for the missing continued, with the spokesperson for Tunisia's National Guard Directorate-General saying on Sunday that teams from the coastguard, marine customs, navy, and civil protection, as well as two helicopters, were involved in the operation.
How each outlet told it
Africa News
Framing: Focuses on protests as the main news angle — Alarmed and sympathetic to protesters
Facts Included:
Protests erupted in Ben Guerdane on Saturday night after boat sank
Protesters blocked roads and set fire to tyres
14 of 15 passengers were from Ben Guerdane
12 bodies recovered, two missing, one rescued
Search operations continued Sunday with local fishermen and National Guard
Area between Ben Guerdane and Zarzis long a departure point
Ben Guerdane witnessed similar tragedy in 2022 (18 missing)
2022 protests over authorities' failure to search and bury bodies without identification
Central Mediterranean is deadliest route per IOM
More than 900 people died or missing along route this year (per IOM)
EU-Tunisia agreement in 2023 reduced departures
EU allocated 105 million euros in migration-related support in 2023
Decline in migration has not ended dangerous crossings
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimA boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of southern Tunisia, killing at least two people and leaving 12 missing, with one survivor rescued.
ClaimA boat carrying 15 migrants sank off Tunisia's south-east coast; 11 bodies were found, three people were missing, and one survivor was found alive.
ClaimGuard spokesperson Houssem Eddine Jebabli told state news agency TAP that authorities recovered two bodies and transferred them to a hospital on the nearby island of Djerba.
ClaimHoussem Eddine Jebabli told national radio Mosaique FM that about 15 people were believed to be aboard the boat when it took off between the cities of Zarzis and Ben Guerdane.
ClaimThe IOM said the number of migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route had more than doubled in the first four months of this year compared to 2025.
ClaimOn Sunday, the spokesperson for Tunisia's National Guard Directorate-General said teams from the coastguard, marine customs, navy and civil protection, as well as two helicopters, were involved in the search for the missing people.
ClaimThe 2022 Zarzis boat incident sparked weeks of protests as families accused authorities of failing to properly search for their relatives and burying some recovered bodies without identifying them or informing their families.
ClaimThe 2023 EU-Tunisia agreement included EU funding and technical support for Tunisian border control and coast guard training to help curb irregular migration and deter human traffickers.
ClaimThe decline in migration has not ended dangerous crossings from Tunisia's southern coast, where families in the south, particularly in Zarzis, have for years searched for relatives who disappeared at sea.
ClaimRights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia since the EU agreement, including reports of collective expulsions, racial violence, arbitrary detention and abuses against Black migrants.
ClaimAmnesty International said refugees and asylum seekers were being deliberately trapped in a system that offers neither protection nor a safe way out.