More than 90 people were aboard the two boats before they capsized, Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesperson for the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.
The island of Lampedusa is home to a migrant reception centre that is often overcrowded with challenging living conditions. It welcomes tens of thousands of migrants who have survived the often dangerous route across the Mediterranean to Europe every year.
Those who make the journey often travel in poorly maintained and overcrowded vessels.
At least 25,000 people have gone missing or been killed while trying to cross the central Mediterranean since 2014, according to the IOM.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 