Tunisian coastguards rescue 222 migrants fleeing Libya

Tunisian coastguards rescued on Saturday some 222 African migrants fleeing Libya on a boat bound to Italy, the state-run press agency TAP reported on Sunday.

The boat which issued a distress signal after water started leaking was rescued off the Tunisian island of Djerba. The migrants were later sent to the Choucha refugee camp in southern Tunisia.

Since the eruption of the turmoil in Libya, thousands of Libyan and African refugees have fled the country. Last week some 600 migrants were killed in rough weather when their boat sank off the Libyan capital Tripoli.

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