As many as 41 people are reported to have lost their lives after a migrant ship with a total of 45 people including three children sank off Lampedusa island in Italy Wednesday, according to the rescuers.
The boat departed from Sfax in Tunisia and sank within hours while it was on its way to Italy, according to a group of four people who survived the shipwreck.
Reports indicate that the survivors — three men and a woman — are from the Ivory Coast and Guinea and arrived island of Lampedusa Wednesday.
As many as 1,800 people died this year while entering Europe from North Africa.
According to the Tunisian authorities, the port city of Sfax — located about 80 miles from Lampedusa — is an important gateway for the migrants entering Europe hoping to get a better life.—Agencies
