At least 14 people were killed on Saturday when a small passenger plane on its way from Bari to Tunisia crashed into the sea north of Sicily, according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

Official sources in Palermo said that 20 of the 39 people aboard the Tunisian Tunintair flight had survived the crash and been fished out of the water by emergency services.

Two and a half hours after the crash, which happened at about 16:00 local time, five people were still missing.

Almost all the victims were believed to be Italians.

The ATR 72 turboprop aircraft was carrying four Tunisian crew members and 35 passengers, all of them Italians. At least one crew member was believed to have survived.

The plane took off from Bari in southern Italy bound for the Tunisian resort of Djerba at 14:40 and appears to have encountered difficulties about an hour later.

The pilot requested an emergency landing at Punta Raisa airport near Palermo but then apparently realized he was unable to reach the landing strip. He radioed at 15:37 to say he was attempting a sea landing.

The plane came down in the sea 13 km north of Palermo and remained afloat. Many passengers managed to leave the aircraft and climb onto the wings as they waited for emergency services.

Source: Xinhua