Migrant shipwreck off Tunisia leaves at least two dead, six reported missing

German charity group ​Sea-Watch said on Tuesday it ​had rescued 28 migrants ‌and recovered ​two bodies, including that of a child, following a shipwreck off the coast of ‌Tunisia. The group's ship Aurora found five survivors and the dead bodies in a deflated rubber dinghy in the early hours of Tuesday, ‌the charity said.

It rescued another 23 survivors, including a ‌toddler, from an offshore oil and gas platform where they had taken refuge after the shipwreck. Those rescued reported that at least six people, including three children, ⁠were ​missing, Sea-Watch said ⁠on social media, adding the Aurora was now heading to the Italian ⁠island of Lampedusa.

"Governments celebrate falling arrival numbers as a success. We see what ​that ‘success’ means: at least two dead and six missing, including ⁠three children," said Sea-Watch spokesperson Julia Winkler, calling for a state-run European search-and-rescue programme. Over ⁠22,000 ​sea migrants have arrived in Italy so far in 2026, interior ministry data showed, compared to more than 50,000 ⁠reported in the same period of 2025.

In the same period, more ⁠than 1,970 ⁠people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean in a bid to reach Europe, Sea-Watch said.