UN fears up to 500 dead in recent migrant shipwreck

The 41 survivors from Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt described seeing "a large shipwreck that took place in the Mediterranean Sea claiming the lives of approximately 500 people," Carlotta Sami said in a statement sent to AFP.

The UNHCR's statement comes after reports on Monday that up to 400 migrants were feared drowned in the Mediterranean after their boat capsized during the crossing to Italy from Egypt.

The survivors - 37 men, three women and a three-year-old child - said between 100 and 200 people had set off from near Tobruk in Libya in a large, unseaworthy vessel.

"In the middle of sea, the smugglers brought in more passengers, transferring them with a smaller boat. Due to the overcrowding, the large boat sank," the statement said.

Some of the survivors swam back to the smaller boat and drifted at sea before being spotted and rescued on April 16th. They arrived the following day in Kalamata, in Greece.

The survivors are being temporarily housed at the stadium of Kalamata and have been visited and interviewed about what happened by UN representatives.

The statement said the date of the sinking was still unclear, and gave no information about who rescued the migrants.