MADRID — The Latest on migration into and around Europe (all times local):

Tunisia’s defense ministry says at least 35 migrants were killed after their boat sank off the country’s coast.

The ministry said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing.

The ministry says the boat was transporting about 180 migrants from Tunisia and other African countries.

It sank near Kerkennah island, on the east coast of Tunisia.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Nine migrants, including six children, have drowned in boat accident off Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine victims and rescued four others. A fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Turkey’s state-run Anatolia News Agency reports there were 14-15 people on the vessel, according to the migrants, so authorities were still searching for one unaccounted for person. The migrants’ nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 migrants reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers’ boat.

In all, the service says it rescued the 240 people from 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from African shores to Spain between Saturday and Sunday.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>(CNN) — At least 48 people died after a boat carrying around 180 migrants sank off the coast of Tunisia late Saturday, according to official Tunisian news agency TAP.

Dozens of others were rescued by the Tunisian coast guard, which also recovered the 48 bodies, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement.

The boat was 16 nautical miles off the Sfax coast — 170 miles south of the capital Tunis — when it sent a distress signal at 10:45 p.m. local time (5.45 p.m. ET) on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

People trying to reach Europe frequently use Tunisia — which neighbors Libya — as a starting point, often making the journey in overcrowded, makeshift boats heading for Sicily, around 250 miles away.

At least 60 of those rescued were Tunisian, the ministry said, while TAP reported that at least 80 of those on board are believed to be from sub-Saharan Africa.

Search-and-rescue operations are continuing and the death toll is expected to rise. The Sfax public prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the incident, according to TAP.

Another nine migrants, including six children, died after their boat sank off the southern coast of Turkey early Sunday morning, the Turkish coast guard said in a statement. Six others were rescued and at least one person is still missing.

At the western end of the Mediterranean, a further 240 people were rescued over the weekend by Spain’s maritime rescue agency. “One person died before he could be rescued,” the agency wrote on Twitter.

The number of people trying to reach Europe by boat from Turkey and northern Africa has fallen significantly in the past two years.

The drop is ascribed partly to two controversial deals: one struck in March 2016 between the European Union and Turkey — under which Syrian refugees arriving in Greece from Turkey are sent back — and another made last year between Italy and Libya, in which the southern European country pledged to bolster Libya’s coast guard so it could spot departing migrant boats and house migrants attempting to cross.

Doctors Without Borders has been critical of both the EU-Turkey and Italy-Libya deals, slamming them as “outsourcing migration management to — often unsafe — third countries.”

Although the number of people attempting the crossing has fallen — by more than 50% since last year alone — the Mediterranean is still the world’s deadliest migration route, according to data collected by the UN Migration Agency.

Between January and May this year, around 660 people died en route, compared to 87 at the US-Mexico border and 82 in sub-Saharan Africa</s>The Latest: 35 migrants die as boat sinks off Tunisia

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on migration into and around Europe (all times local):

Tunisia's defense ministry says at least 35 migrants were killed after their boat sank off the country's coast.

The ministry said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing.

The ministry says the boat was transporting about 180 migrants from Tunisia and other African countries.

It sank near Kerkennah island, on the east coast of Tunisia.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Nine migrants, including six children, have drowned in boat accident off Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

The boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine victims and rescued four others. A fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Turkey's state-run Anatolia News Agency reports there were 14-15 people on the vessel, according to the migrants, so authorities were still searching for one unaccounted for person. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 migrants reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers' boat.

In all, the service says it rescued the 240 people from 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from African shores to Spain between Saturday and Sunday.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.</s>At least 48 migrants were killed when their boat sank off Tunisia's coast and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard - 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 defence 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, has 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.

"I survived by clinging to wood for nine hours," he said at a hospital in the southern city of Sfax where dozens of people gathered to look for survivors and identify dead relatives.

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

Separately, nine people including six children died 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.

Reducing the flow of migrants into Italy is one of the aims of the anti- immigrant League party in Italy and its leader Matteo Salvini who was sworn in as the country's new interior minister on Friday.

Salvini and his party have promised to block the arrival of boat migrants from Africa and to deport up to 100,000 illegal immigrants per year.

"The objective is to save lives. And this is done by preventing the departures of the boats of death that are a business for some and a disgrace for the rest of the world," Salvini said in a statement, commenting on both the incidents.

"I will work to ensure that all the international organisations commit to stop departures, landings and deaths."

As of May 30, 32,080 people had reached Europe by sea so far this year, the International Organisation for Migration said on its website. About 660 had died attempting the crossing, it said.</s>TUNIS (Reuters) - At least 46 migrants were killed when their boat sank off Tunisia’s southern coast and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard, the defence ministry said on Sunday, one of the worst migrant boat accidents in recent years.

The rescue operation was ongoing, the ministry said in a statement. The migrants were of Tunisian and other nationalities.

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

“I survived by clinging to wood for nine hours,” he said at a hospital in the southern city of Sfax where dozens of people gathered to look for survivors and identify dead relatives.

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 died 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.

Reducing the flow of migrants into Italy is one of the aims of the anti-immigrant League party in Italy and its leader Matteo Salvini who was sworn in as the country’s new interior minister on Friday.

Salvini and his party have promised to block the arrival of boat migrants from Africa and to deport up to 100,000 illegal immigrants per year.

“The objective is to save lives. And this is done by preventing the departures of the boats of death that are a business for some and a disgrace for the rest of the world,” Salvini said in a statement, commenting on both the incidents.

“I will work to ensure that all the international organisations commit to stop departures, landings and deaths.”

As of May 30, 32,080 people had reached Europe by sea so far this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on its website. Some 660 had died attempting the crossing, it said.

In October, a boat full of migrants sank after colliding with a Tunisian navy ship, killing at least 44.</s>The Latest: 35 migrants die as boat sinks off Tunisia

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on migration into and around Europe (all times local):

Tunisia's defense ministry says at least 35 migrants were killed after their boat sank off the country's coast.

The ministry said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing.

The ministry says the boat was transporting about 180 migrants from Tunisia and other African countries.

It sank near Kerkennah island, on the east coast of Tunisia.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Nine migrants, including six children, have drowned in boat accident off Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

The boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine victims and rescued four others. A fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Turkey's state-run Anatolia News Agency reports there were 14-15 people on the vessel, according to the migrants, so authorities were still searching for one unaccounted for person. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 migrants reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers' boat.

In all, the service says it rescued the 240 people from 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from African shores to Spain between Saturday and Sunday.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.</s>TUNIS, June 3 (Reuters) - At least 46 migrants were killed when their boat sank off Tunisia's southern coast and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard, the defence ministry said on Sunday, one of the worst migrant boat accidents in recent years.

The rescue operation was ongoing, the ministry said in a statement. The migrants were of Tunisian and other nationalities.

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

"I survived by clinging to wood for nine hours," he said at a hospital in the southern city of Sfax where dozens of people gathered to look for survivors and identify dead relatives.

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 died 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.

Reducing the flow of migrants into Italy is one of the aims of the anti-immigrant League party in Italy and its leader Matteo Salvini who was sworn in as the country's new interior minister on Friday.

Salvini and his party have promised to block the arrival of boat migrants from Africa and to deport up to 100,000 illegal immigrants per year.

"The objective is to save lives. And this is done by preventing the departures of the boats of death that are a business for some and a disgrace for the rest of the world," Salvini said in a statement, commenting on both the incidents.

"I will work to ensure that all the international organisations commit to stop departures, landings and deaths."

As of May 30, 32,080 people had reached Europe by sea so far this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on its website. Some 660 had died attempting the crossing, it said.

In October, a boat full of migrants sank after colliding with a Tunisian navy ship, killing at least 44. (Reporting by Tarek Amara in TUNIS and Agnieszka Flak in MILAN; Writing by Ulf Laessing Editing by Dale Hudson, Jane Merriman and David Evans )</s>The Latest: 35 migrants die as boat sinks off Tunisia

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on migration into and around Europe (all times local):

Tunisia's defense ministry says at least 35 migrants were killed after their boat sank off the country's coast.

The ministry said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing.

The ministry says the boat was transporting about 180 migrants from Tunisia and other African countries.

It sank near Kerkennah island, on the east coast of Tunisia.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Nine migrants, including six children, have drowned in boat accident off Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

The boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine victims and rescued four others. A fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Turkey's state-run Anatolia News Agency reports there were 14-15 people on the vessel, according to the migrants, so authorities were still searching for one unaccounted for person. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 migrants reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers' boat.

In all, the service says it rescued the 240 people from 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from African shores to Spain between Saturday and Sunday.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.</s>At least 46 migrants were killed when their boat sank off Tunisia's southern coast and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard, the defence ministry said on Sunday, one of the worst migrant boat accidents in recent years.

The rescue operation was ongoing, the ministry said in a statement. The migrants were of Tunisian and other nationalities.

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

"I survived by clinging to wood for nine hours," he said at a hospital in the southern city of Sfax where dozens of people gathered to look for survivors and identify dead relatives.

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 died 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.

Reducing the flow of migrants into Italy is one of the aims of the anti-immigrant League party in Italy and its leader Matteo Salvini who was sworn in as the country's new interior minister on Friday.

Salvini and his party have promised to block the arrival of boat migrants from Africa and to deport up to 100,000 illegal immigrants per year.

"The objective is to save lives. And this is done by preventing the departures of the boats of death that are a business for some and a disgrace for the rest of the world," Salvini said in a statement, commenting on both the incidents.

"I will work to ensure that all the international organisations commit to stop departures, landings and deaths."

As of May 30, 32,080 people had reached Europe by sea so far this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on its website. Some 660 had died attempting the crossing, it said.

In October, a boat full of migrants sank after colliding with a Tunisian navy ship, killing at least 44.</s>The Latest: Death toll from boat off Tunisia rises to 46

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on migration into and around Europe (all times local):

Tunisia's defense ministry says the number of migrants who died after their boat sank off the country's coast has increased to at least 46.

The ministry's press officer, Rachid Bouhoula, said Sunday afternoon that the bodies of 11 more people were recovered from the water as the rescue and recovery operation near the island of Kerkennah continued.

In a previous statement, the ministry said 35 people were killed and the coast guard rescued another 68. Most of them were Tunisians. Authorities said the boat was carrying about 180 passengers.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Tunisia's defense ministry says at least 35 migrants were killed after their boat sank off the country's coast.

The ministry said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing.

The ministry says the boat was transporting about 180 migrants from Tunisia and other African countries.

It sank near Kerkennah island, on the east coast of Tunisia.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Nine migrants, including six children, have drowned in boat accident off Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

The boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine victims and rescued four others. A fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Turkey's state-run Anatolia News Agency reports there were 14-15 people on the vessel, according to the migrants, so authorities were still searching for one unaccounted for person. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 migrants reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers' boat.

In all, the service says it rescued the 240 people from 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from African shores to Spain between Saturday and Sunday.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.
A migrant boat capsizes near the Kerkennah Islands off the coast of Tunisia, killing at least 35 people, while 67 others are rescued by the Tunisian coast guard.