Eight of the nine people who died in a migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean off Tunisian coasts last week are Bangladesh nationals. 

AFM Zahid Ul Islam, the director general of the African wing at the foreign ministry, confirmed the identities of the victims when reporters asked him about the matter on Tuesday. 

He said the foreign ministry was working with the expatriates’ welfare ministry to bring back the bodies of the victims.

According to the latest update, as many as 27 Bangladeshis were rescued after the incident, said Zahid. 

One of them was taken to a hospital from Zarzis in Tunisia in a critical condition, he said. 

The Bangladesh Embassy in Libya identified the person in a critical condition as Manotosh Sarker from Madaripur’s Rajoir Upazila. 

Five of the eight dead Bangladeshi victims were also from the same Upazila.

Those from Rajoir were Sajal and Mamun Sheikh, Nayan Biwas, Kazi Sajeeb and Kayser. Not all the victims’ full names were available.    

The three others – Rifat, Rasel and Imrul Kayes Apon – were from Muksudpur in Gopalganj. 

The embassy said the Bangladeshis were among 52 migrants on their way to Europe from the Libyan coasts. 

Their boat caught fire on Feb 15 near the Tunisian coasts. 

The embassy said it had sent a team headed by Rasel Miah, first secretary (labour) at the mission, to Zarzis to confirm the information on the Bangladeshis.