At least 13 people were killed and 23 injured when their Tunisair charter flight crashed into the sea near Sicily on Saturday after reporting a technical fault, emergency services said.

The plane was carrying 34 Italians and five crew from Bari, in southeastern Italy, to the popular Tunisian resort island of Djerba when it encountered a "lack of engine power," according to Tuninter, the charter arm of the Tunisian airline that operated the flight.

The pilot made a distress call to Palermo airport at 3:24 p.m. (1324 GMT) and said he wanted to make an emergencylanding.

"They (the pilots) asked to land at Punta Raisi (Palermo airport), but they didn't make it," said Vito Riggio, head of civil aviation authority ENAC. "The pilot said he would try a sea landing but was unable to."