DHAKA: Tunisia’s navy rescued more than 350 illegal migrants off its coast and was searching for hundreds more on Wednesday after they tried to sail from neighboring Libya to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The local Red Cross said boat smugglers often use Tunisia’s proximity to the Italian coast to ship migrants there, reports the NDTV.

Tunisian authorities have rescued dozens of people traveling in unsafe boats in recent months.

Local Red Cross representative Abd el Karim Rguiyi  said “Naval forces have rescued at least 350 clandestine migrants off the coast near Ben Guerdane in an old boat that left from Libya.”

“Among them are Syrians and families, Africans. Authorities are looking to save around 300 more”, he added.

Ben Guerdane is a coastal town just across the border from Libya and not far from the tourist island resort of Djerba.

BDST: 1052 HRS, JUNE 11, 2015
BD/