Death toll in migrant ship accident off Tunisia rises to 17

Tunisia recovered more bodies on Tuesday from a ship that sank off the Tunisian coast on Sunday while carrying African migrants, bringing the death toll to 17, a judicial official told Reuters.

About 30 people had set out on the boat, aiming to reach Italy, officials said.

Tunisia's coast guard recovered more bodies on Tuesday and Monday off the coast near Sfax, bringing the number of deaths to at least 17, Mourad Tourki the spokesman of Sfax court said.

He said rescuers had also found seven survivors.

Last year, about 90 African migrants drowned after their boat capsized enroute to Europe from Libya, one of the worst such accidents in Tunisian water.