UNITED NATIONS - UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and American actress Angelina Jolie expressed "deep shock" over reports of the drowning of 213 people off the southern coast of Italy, a UN spokesperson said here Wednesday.

Related readings:  Migrant boat sinks off Italy, 130 missing  Italy recognizes Libyan rebels' interim council: FM  Aria for Italy's unity sounds like an elegy  World calls for ceasefire, political solution in Libya

"According to survivors, the group, including Somalis, Eritreans and Ivorians, departed Libya three days ago in an attempt to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa," UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters in a daily briefing. "They told UNHCR that many women and three children were among the dead."

The spokesperson said the Italian Coastguard rescued 47 people, including two women, one of them pregnant.

Since protests spread across North Africa and the Middle East in recent months, many people, particularly people fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya have taken boats to try to reach Europe.