Three presumed migrant bodies spotted off Tunisia

Italy's coast guard said a migrant charity boat reported seeing three decomposing bodies off Tunisia, in what were presumed to be migrant deaths in the Mediterranean.

The coast guard said it received the report on August 25 about bodies “in an advanced state of decomposition” roughly 36 nautical miles from the coast of Zarzis.

The bodies were in a search-and-rescue area under the responsibility of Libya and Tunisia, the coast guard said. It said an aircraft operated by an NGO also spotted a decomposing body in the same area, but it was unclear whether that body was one of the three.

Every year, tens of thousands of people attempt to cross the sea from North Africa to southern Europe. The International Organization for Migration says at least 914 migrants have died or gone missing this year while attempting the central Mediterranean route.

Earlier this month, a plane operated by the SOS Mediterranee rescue group spotted 11 decomposing bodies in the sea off the Libya coast.