Tunis, August 22 (QNA) - A boat with immigrants aboard sank off the Tunisian coast while it was steaming toward European shores, leaving 13 individuals missing.

Head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, Mustafa Abdel Kabir, said there were 15 Tunisians aboard the boat, mostly from the Ben Guerdane area, explaining that the boat set sail at dawn on Thursday but later sank at sea.

Rescuers pulled off the rescue of two people, one of whom was in critical condition.

Houssem Eddine Jebabli, spokesperson for the National Guard, said that Coast Guard units, backed by an aircraft and naval units, were conducting search operations for the missing immigrants, pointing out that the boat sank about 14 nautical miles off the coast of Zarzis.

However, the circumstances surrounding the accident and the final number of people missing are still being determined. (QNA)