22 migrants die in boat sinking off Madagascar: authorities

At least 22 migrants died when their boat sank off the coast of Madagascar at the weekend, the island nation's maritime authorities said on Monday.

"Forty-seven people had clandestinely taken a boat headed to (the French territory of) Mayotte, but that sank. Twenty-three of the passengers were able to be saved. Twenty-two bodies were found," the Madagascar maritime authority APMF said in a statement, adding that the accident occurred on Saturday. Search-and-rescue operations were continuing for the two people who remained missing.