Officials say 20 people have been rescued from a Tunisian plane that crash-landed onto the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Sicily.

A local official in charge of the crash investigation says another 14 people were killed and five are missing.

All 35 passengers on board the Tunis Air propellor plane were reported to be Italian. The four-member crew was Tunisian.

The plane, on a flight from Bari, Italy, to Djerba, Tunisia, tried to make an emergency landing at an airport in the Sicilian town of Palermo before crash landing in the sea.

Witnesses say the plane was floating in the water near Palermo as rescue efforts were under way. Some passengers were seen standing on the wings of the aircraft.

Some information for this story provided by AP and AFP.