KIEV (Reuters) - Twelve people died when a small passenger boat sank on Saturday (Oct 17) near the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukrainian authorities said.

The infrastructure ministry said in a statement the accident took place near the small town of Belgorod-Dnistrovsky, 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Odessa at around 4 pm local time (1300 GMT). There were 36 passengers on board.

It gave no further details.

Odessa's governor Mikheil Saakashvili confirmed "several casualties" and said on Facebook that most of passengers were rescued.