AKIPRESS.COM - At least 48 migrants died after their boat capsized off the eastern coast of Tunisia, the Tunisian government says.

Sixty-seven others - from Tunisia and elsewhere - were rescued by the coastguard.

The country has become an important new route for migrants trying to make the crossing to Europe in the past year, BBC reported.

This comes after moves against human traffickers in Libya, who have regularly enslaved, tortured or murdered migrants.

The latest boat to go down off Tunisia was packed with about 180 people, about 100 whom were Tunisian, the country's interior ministry said.

The boat was five miles from the Kerkennah Islands and 16 nautical miles from the city of Sfax, the ministry said.

Rescue operations were suspended late on Sunday but will resume on Monday morning, officials said.

One survivor told Reuters that the captain had abandoned the boat after it started sinking to escape arrest by the coast guard.