Antananarivo: At least 22 people have been killed after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Madagascar in Southern Africa, Madagascar's port authority said on Sunday evening.

The boat carrying a total of 47 people capsized on Saturday due to an accident in the seas off the coast of Madagascar, the Maritime and River Port Agency said in a statement.

Twenty-three of them on board were saved, and operations to rescue the missing were still ongoing, the authorities said.

The boat was on its way to the French overseas island of Mayotte, according to the statement.

(With UNI inputs)