On Friday, the Tunisian navy rescued 70 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who were on a sinking rubber boat headed to Italy from Libya, according to a Tunisian Ministry of Defence spokesperson, Mohamed Zakri.
Zakri said that the boat had broken down in international waters and was taking in water when the navy intervened at around 1:00 am local time.
For his part, the representative of the Red Crescent in the region, Mongi Slim, said that five women and four children, including a few months-old infant, were among those on board.
The rescued migrants are to undergo tests for COVID-19 and be confined to a Red Crescent centre, Slim said.