TUNIS: Tunisian authorities said on Tuesday 58 bodies found washed up on its shores last month were likely the victims of attempts to flee the country by boat. The bodies, most of which were male, appeared to be "victims of the curse of migration", the interior minister said in a statement. "The bodies in an advanced state of decomposition were found by the national guard and army", the statement said. "They were washed up on the beaches of Skhira, Chaffar and Kerkennah in the Sfax area, as well as those in Gabes, Djerba and Mahdia" in Tunisia's south, it said.
Thousands of Tunisians have fled the north African country since the popular uprising in January which led to the fall of former ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Many have travelled to Italy and onward to France, prompting the two countries to call for changes to the EU's visa-free system whereby freedom would be limited in certain cases.
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