117 people are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya after an inflatable boat capsized in the Mediterranean, a spokesman for the UN’s migration agency said on Saturday.

According to information, an inflatable boat carrying 120 asylum seekers on board reportedly sailed from Libya's Garabulli sank in the Mediterranean.

Some 117-asylum seekers, including two babies and a pregnant woman, feared to be drowned official said.

Italian coast guards reportedly intervened to the disease 3 hours after the boat sank. Three migrants, 2 Sudanese and one from the Gambia were rescued by helicopter.

Three survivors who were rescued said there were 120 people on the boat, IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo said.

"There are therefore 117 missing people including 10 women and 2 children (one was just 2 months old)," the spokesman posted on social media.

He added that many of the migrants on board were from West Africa, but there were also about 40 Sudanese on board, according to those who survived.

"As long as Europe's ports remain open, as long as someone helps the smugglers, unfortunately, the smugglers continue to do business and continue killing," Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said.

ILKHA