At least 20 refugees have drowned off the coast of Tunisia

At least 20 refugees have drowned off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean sea to Italy, Italian officials said.

At least 20 refugees were killed in the accident. More than 60 people are still missing. Meanwhile, the Italian Coast Guard issued a statement yesterday saying that 3,300 people had been rescued from 58 boats in the last 48 hours.

International media also reported that most of the rescue operations were carried out on boats from Tunisia to the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is the closest to Africa.