ANTANANARIVO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen illegal migrants drowned in a maritime incident on Wednesday off the coast of the Mitsamiouli region in the northern part of Grande Comore island in the Comoros, the country's foreign ministry said Thursday.

The ministry said that the victims included 15 nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and three from Burundi.

The vessel, carrying 48 illegal migrants, was abandoned at sea by smugglers near the Comorian coast, the ministry said.

Local media reported that the migrants had been attempting to reach Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, but were misled by smugglers into believing they had already arrived, when in fact they remained in Comorian waters. ■