27 people have been found dead on a beach in the area of Crotone in southern Italy, according to the news agency Ansa.
The dead, who were found on Sunday morning, are believed to be migrants. Police and crews from the Red Cross are on the scene in the region of Calabria.
The state broadcaster RAI confirms the incident and reports that around 30 migrants died when their ship sank.
Sources tell RAI that there must have been over a hundred people on board the ship when it ran into problems on Sunday morning.
According to the newspaper Lasiciliaweb Rescue work is still ongoing at the site and the death toll is expected to rise.
In a new report from Save the Children, the organization writes that 8,468 people have died or been reported missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean to get to Europe since 2019.
Earlier in February, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stated that they rescued 48 migrants, including nine children, from a boat in distress at sea in the central Mediterranean.
In January alone, MSF rescued over 230 people crossing the Mediterranean
