Tunisia tragedy: 7 Bangladeshi victims from Sylhet div

Seven of the 37 Bangladeshi migrants, who died after a boat carrying them capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tunisia, were from Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts.

They were: Ahsan Habib Shamim, 23, of Bhukhshimile village in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar; Kamran Ahmed Maruf, 22, of Kudupur village in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet; and Ahmed Hossain, 24, Abdul Aziz, 23, Liton Miah, 23, and Afzal Mohammad, 25, of Fenchuganj upazila in Sylhet.

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60 migrants, mostly Bangladeshis, die

Golapganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mamunur Rahman, Fenchuganj UNO Ayesha Haque and Kulaura’s Bukshimail union parishad member Shahed Ahmed confirmed the identities of the victims to our Sylhet correspondent.

Among the deceased, Shamim and Maruf are brother and brother-in-law of Shahriar Alam Samad, former president of Sylhet district unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the sources said.

Contacted, Mahbubul Alam, additional superintendent of Sylhet police, said, “We have heard of the deaths of five migrants from Sylhet but did not get any information officially.”    

Siraj Miah, father of victim Liton, claimed that Ahmed, Aziz, Afzal and his son Liton left Bangladesh in November last year. They made a contract with a travel agency, which took Tk 8 lakh from each for sending them to Italy from Bangladesh via Libya.   

Earlier, Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli has confirmed the deaths of 37 Bangladeshis in the boat capsize.

Fifty Bangladeshis, among others, were on board the ship bound for Europe, ASM Ashraful Islam, labour counsellor of Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli, said today.     

HOW DID THE BOAT CAPSIZE?

Survivors told the Red Crescent that the tragedy unfolded after some 75 people who had left Zuwara on the northwestern Libyan coast late Thursday on a large boat were transferred to a smaller one that sank off Tunisia, reports AFP from Tunis.

The boat sank 65 km off the coast of Sfax, south of the capital Tunis. Fishing boats rescued 16 people and brought them to shore in Zarzis, according to the Red Crescent.

It said the bodies of migrants would take days to surface.

The IOM called it the deadliest migrant boat sinking since January.

According to survivors, the Italy-bound boat had on board only men, including 51 Bangladeshis, three Egyptians, several Moroccans, Chadians and other Africans.

Fourteen Bangladeshis, including a minor, were among the survivors, said the Red Crescent.

The IOM says as many as 443 migrants either died or went missing in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe in boats as of May 8 this year. The figures were 2,299 in 2018 and 3,139 in 2017.

The UN agency says 21,645 migrants, including 17,000 via sea and the rest via land, arrived in Europe as of May 8 this year. The figures were 390,432 in 2016, 186,768 in 2017 and 144,166 in 2018.

According to European Union, there are some 100,000 undocumented Bangladeshis in Europe.