14 migrants found dead off southern Tunisia: official

The bodies of 14 migrants have been found in recent days off the coast of Tunisia's southern Djerba island, a public prosecutor in the city of Medenine told AFP Wednesday.

Tunisia as well as neighbouring Libya have become key departure points for migrants, often from other countries, who risk perilous Mediterranean sea journeys in the hopes of reaching better lives in Europe.

Fethi Bakkouche, prosecutor at the court in Medenine, said that "bodies began to appear near the coast of the island of Djerba since Friday".

"The toll reached 14 bodies," Bakkouche said, adding that they were of irregular migrants.

Most of them had come from sub-Saharan African countries, he said, and one was an Egyptian man identified by the passport he was carrying.

Some 2,498 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the central Mediterranean route in 2023, a 75-percent increase from the previous year, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration.

On Tuesday, Tunisian authorities in Sfax said they found the bodies of 22 migrants who had also washed ashore over several days.