A boat carrying the bodies of 10 migrants found dead at sea arrived in Sicily on Friday, along with dozens of people it rescued this week as they tried to cross the Mediterranean, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The crew of the Geo Barents vessel, run by charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), found the corpses on an overcrowded boat 30 nautical miles off the Libyan coast.
They are believed to have died from suffocation after spending 13 hours on the boat's lower deck where there was an intense smell of fuel, MSF said in a statement.
Some 186 people rescued in three separate operations in international waters will disembark in Messina, a port on the southern Italian island, MSF said.
The migrants - mostly from Africa - include 61 minors, the youngest aged just 10 months.
"We hope they will get all the assistance they need," MSF said on Twitter, adding those who died will now have "a decent burial".