A boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized Monday off France's Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, killing at least 17 people — eight of them children, officials said.

The boat carrying 38 people was en route from the Comoros Islands about 125 miles to the northwest when it overturned while trying to evade the French coast guard, the Ministry of Immigration said in a statement.

Officials said nine adults and eight children were killed. They said four passengers were rescued but another 17 were missing and the subject of a search. But officials said some of the missing probably reached land.

"It appears that about 10 people were able to reach the shore by their own means," Lt. Col. Patrice Martinez, of the police force in Mayotte, said by telephone.

Survivors said the boat had left from Comoros on Sunday. The mishap occurred near the shore in choppy seas, Martinez said.

Comoros , between the northern tip of Madagascar and Africa, has faced a series of coups and political turmoil since it gained independence from France in 1975. It is one of the world's poorest countries, with a young and rapidly growing population of about 770,000.

France last year expelled more than 16,000 illegal immigrants from Comoros who had reached Mayotte, the ministry said.

"This new drama tragically illustrates the risks that (human) traffickers run by exploiting the miseries of these migrants," the Ministry of Immigration said.