35 Tunisian migrants missing after boats capsizes: report

A boat carrying would-be immigrants arrives on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Up to 35 migrants sailing from Tunisia to Italy were missing on Tuesday after the boat they were travelling in capsized, Italian port authorities were quoted by ANSA news agency as saying.

AFP - Up to 35 migrants sailing from Tunisia to Italy were missing on Tuesday after the boat they were travelling in capsized, Italian port authorities were quoted by ANSA news agency as saying.

The report, which said the boat capsized on Monday shortly after departing from the port of Zarzis in southern Tunisia, came as hundreds of mostly Tunisian migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

ANSA said 12 boats carrying 816 migrants have arrived in the past few hours.

The report also quoted five migrants on one of the boats as saying that they were rescued from the boat that capsized, which was carrying 40 people.

Thousands of Tunisians have arrived in Lampedusa in recent weeks, with many making the perilous Mediterranean crossing on rickety fishing boats.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen visited Lampedusa on Monday and warned that Europe could no longer accept undocumented migrants from North Africa.

Officials say over 8,000 migrants have landed on Lampedusa since Tunisia's revolution in January -- more than the total number for 2010.