Six migrants were killed and 40 were missing in a ship accident off the Italian island of Lampedusa late on Tuesday, Italy's main news agency ANSA and other media reported on Wednesday, as confirmed by Reuters.
Italian coast guard ships have so far rescued 10 people and resumed the search for other survivors on Wednesday morning.
The Italian coast guard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request to confirm the reports.
Survivors told rescuers that several people in a group of 56 migrants who set out on a boat from Tunisia fell overboard because of bad weather, the agencies said.
