More than 40 people have drowned in the latest sinking of a migrant boat between Libya and Italy.

The Italian navy rescued four people, Almost 10,000 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean have been plucked from the sea in recent days.

Hundreds have died since the start of the year. Italy has called for more help from the EU to handle the crisis.

Earlier this week, about 400 people were believed to have drowned when their boat capsized.

In the latest sinking, the survivors - a Ghanaian, two Nigerians, and a man from Niger - told Italian police their inflatable boat sank not long after leaving the coast of Libya with 45 people on board.

They were rescued by the Italian navy and arrived in Sicily on Thursday along with 600 other migrants trying to make the crossing in various vessels.

Earlier on Thursday Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italy had "not had an adequate response from the EU".

But the European Union has said it has no "silver bullet" for the problem of thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe.