Twenty-nine bodies have been recovered, the Tunisian coast guard said in a statement on Sunday, adding that it had rescued eleven illegal migrants of several African nationalities.

It also said that, in the last four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the coast of the southern city of Sfax, leaving 67 missing and nine dead, after a significant increase in boats heading towards Italy.

According to monitoring groups, at least 20,000 migrants have died or gone missing at sea in the central Mediterranean since 2014. (ILKHA)