The latest deaths come after Italian media reported that a record 2,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Lampedusa within 24 hours.
At least 19 refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have drowned off the coast of Tunisia while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Italy, according to a human rights group.
The Italian news agency ANSA said more than 2,000 asylum seekers had arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa within 24 hours.
The agency described Saturday’s arrivals as a “record”.
Romdhane Ben Amor, an official with the Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES), told Reuters news agency the deaths occurred when a boat carrying the refugees and migrants sank off the coast of Mahdia in Tunisia after a journey that started from the beaches from Sfax. .
He said the Tunisian coastguard was able to rescue five people from the boat.
Tunisian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
At least five boats carrying refugees and migrants have sunk off the southern city of Sfax in the past four days, leaving 67 missing and nine dead.
The Coast Guard previously said it had stopped about 80 boats heading for Italy in the past four days and detained more than 3,000 people, mostly from sub-Saharan countries.
The coast at Sfax has become an important starting point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.
The latest disaster comes during a campaign of arrests by Tunisian authorities of undocumented sub-Saharan Africans.
According to United Nations data, at least 12,000 people reaching Italy this year departed from Tunisia, compared to 1,300 in the same period of 2022.
Previously, Libya was the main point of departure for refugees and migrants.
According to FTDES statistics, the Tunisian coastguard prevented more than 14,000 refugees and migrants from leaving in boats in the first three months of this year, compared to 2,900 in the same period last year.
The Italian coastguard said on Thursday it had rescued some 750 asylum seekers in two operations off the southern Italian coast.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Friday that Europe risks a huge wave of refugees and migrants from North Africa arriving on its shores if financial stability in Tunisia is not safeguarded.
Meloni called on the International Monetary Fund and some countries to help Tunisia quickly to prevent its collapse.