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 said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing. (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. 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 recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. 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. 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. 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 victims were Tunisians and other nationalities, it said, without giving details. 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. 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. 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.
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.