The Tunisian maritime guard recovered on Saturday 13 bodies of illegal African immigrants who drowned off the southeastern coast three days ago, a Tunisian Red Crescent official told Xinhua.

The bodies were found off Jorf coast in the province of Medenine and Katf coast of the city of Ben Guerdane close to the Libyan border, said Mongi Slim, head of the Medenine branch of the Tunisian Red Crescent.

The search is still underway for the remaining victims, Slim added.

Preliminary evidence shows the bodies belonging to illegal African immigrants who sailed days ago from the Libyan coasts toward Italy.

On Thursday, Mustapha Abdel Kabir, head of Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Xinhua that more than 80 illegal immigrants of different African nationalities went missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean while sailing toward the Italian coast.