At least 40 people are missing after a boat accident involving migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Wednesday, citing survivor accounts.

The boat had reportedly set sail from the Tunisian coastal town of Sfax in the direction of Italy and capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Three men and one woman were rescued from the water by a Maltese cargo ship and brought to Lampedusa by the Italian coastguard.

The survivors said 41 people died. However, no bodies have yet been found, ANSA reported.

According to the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, more than 90,000 migrants have reached Italian shores so far this year, more than twice as many people as in the same period last year.

Most of those who are not intercepted off the North African coast are picked up by Italian patrol ships or charity rescue ships and brought to reception centres.

Source: Oman News Agency