Local Editor

At least 48 migrants died when their boat sank off Tunisia's coast and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard, officials said on Sunday, one of the worst migrant boat accidents in recent years.

The boat went down near the southern island of Kerkenna, a tourist spot, in the night to Sunday, the defense ministry said in a statement. The victims were Tunisians and other nationalities, it said, without giving details.

The rescue operation was suspended late on Sunday but will resume on Monday morning, officials said.

Human traffickers increasingly use Tunisia as a launch pad for migrants heading to Europe as Libya's coast guard, aided by armed groups, tightened controls.

Security officials said the boat was packed with about 180 migrants, including 80 from other African countries.

A survivor said the captain had abandoned the boat after it started sinking to escape arrest by the coast guard.

Unemployed Tunisians and other Africans often try to depart in makeshift boats from Tunisia to Sicily in Italy.

The North African country is in the middle of a deep economic crisis since the toppling of autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 threw Tunisia into turmoil with unemployment and inflation shooting up.

Separately, nine people including six children lost their lives on Sunday after a speedboat carrying 15 refugees sank off the coast of Turkey's southern province of Antalya, the Turkish coast guard said in a statement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team