Migrant ship capsizes off Tunisia, 82 missing and five dead

A boat carrying a group of migrants to Europe capsized off the Tunisian coast on Wednesday leaving five dead and some 82 missing. The vessel was sailing from Libya towards Italy. 

Five people were rescued and brought to Zaris in Tunisia by the Tunisian coast guard, however one of the survivors died while being treated hospital. 

According to humanitarian organisation Red Crescent, the three of the survivors are Malian, while the fourth is Ivorian. 

The nationality of the fifth individual is as yet unknown. 

The survivors were rescued by the coast guard on Wednesday after being alerted to the incident by local fishermen. 

NGO Alarm Phone, an organisation that serves as support for people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to the European Union, said that the shipwreck occurred off the Zaris coast. 

Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration said that the 80-people missing are feared to be dead. 

The survivors told officials that the capsized boat had left the Libyan town of Zuwara, west of Tripoli, towards the Italian peninsula. 

This is the second incident involving migrants this week, as 44 were killed during an air-strike on a Tajoura migrant detention centre in Libya.