Forty-one boat migrants reported drowned in Mediterranean - IOM

GENEVA (Reuters) - Forty-one people have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Italy by boat from Libya, four survivors said when they arrived at the Sicilian port of Trapani, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The four survivors said they were originally from Sub-Saharan Africa and had left the city of Tripoli in Libya on Saturday. They then stayed adrift for four days before their boat was wrecked, the IOM spokesman said in a statement.

"It appears that the four were found floating in the sea by a helicopter and were then rescued by the military ship Foscari," the IOM said.

(reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, writing by Isla Binnie)