Migrant deaths have risen in recent years as thousands try to cross the Mediterranean in the hope of finding a better life in war-torn or poverty-stricken Europe.
The central Mediterranean migrant route from North Africa to Europe is the world’s deadliest route with more than 20,000 deaths since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
At least 30 migrants are missing after two unrelated sinkings near Lampedusa of boats that left Sfax last week, according to survivor testimony.
Authorities in Tunisia found the bodies of 12 migrants who washed ashore north of Sfax between Friday and Sunday, but it was not immediately clear whether they were related to the shipwreck near the Kerkennah Islands, just off Sfax.
Massamoudi said authorities were investigating “if there have been other shipwrecks in the area”.
According to Tunisia’s Ministry of Interior, 901 bodies were recovered following maritime accidents in the Mediterranean Sea this year until 20 July, while 34,290 migrants were rescued or intercepted.
It added that most of them came from sub-Saharan African countries.