Up to 500 feared dead in boat tragedy

Up to 500 people are feared dead after a boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea last week, the UN refugee agency said.

The disaster happened in the waters between Italy and Libya, based on accounts from survivors rescued on April 16, the UNHCR said.

The 41 survivors - 37 men, three women and a three-year-old child - were rescued by a merchant ship and taken to Kalamata, in the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece.

Those rescued include 23 Somalis, 11 Ethiopians, six Egyptians and a Sudanese.