Boat Capsize: 8 Bangladeshis killed in Tunisia identified

Eight migrants found dead after a boat sank off the Tunisian coast were Bangladeshis and one was a Pakistani, said the foreign ministry yesterday.

Of the Bangladeshis, Nayan Biswas, Sajal, Mamun Sheikh, Kazi Sajib, and Kaisar were from Rajoir upazila of Madaripur while Rifat, Rasel, and Imrul Kayes Apon were from Muksudpur upazila of Gopalganj, said a ministry statement.

Twenty-seven other Bangladeshis, including one in critical condition, were rescued after the boat with 52 migrants and an Egyptian boatman sank around 4:30am on February 15, nearly five hours after it left for Europe from the coast of the Libyan city of Zuwara, according to the statement.

Seven of the rescued Bangladeshis did not have passports, it added.

The boatman and 43 migrants, including eight Pakistanis, five Syrians, and three Egyptians, were rescued alive.

A team from Bangladesh Embassy in Libya headed by the mission's First Secretary (labour) Rasel Miah is now in the Zarzis city to ensure the rescued Bangladeshis' wellbeing.

The mission is also making arrangements to send back the bodies.