41 dead migrant found with Italian island shipwreck

41 migrants have died in a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Four people who survived the disaster told rescuers that they were on a boat that had set off from Sfax in Tunisia and sank on its way to Italy.

The survivors, originally from the Ivory Coast and Guinea reached Lampedusa on Wednesday.

The BBC reports that more than 1,800 people have lost their lives so far this year in the crossing from North Africa to Europe.

Italian patrol boats and charity groups have recently rescued another 2,000 people who have arrived on Lampedusa.