Twenty-five people have died on an overcrowded boat ferrying illegal immigrants to Italy from North Africa.
Italian coastguards intercepted the boat heading for the island of Lampedusa. It is understood the victims were suffocated by the cramped conditions.
Capt Antonio Morana said the 50-foot boat was carrying 296 people and had set sail from Libya two days ago.
Hundreds of people are believed to have died in recent months while attempting the dangerous crossing, fleeing unrest and conflict in Libya and across North Africa.
In April, a boat believed to be carrying 300 migrants from Libya capsized, leaving 250 people presumed dead.
Most of the migrants were from Somalia, Nigeria or Ghana, said the charity Save the Children, which spoke to the survivors. Those on board included 36 women and 21 children. Some of the babies were just a few months old, the group said.
"From our initial chat with them, the impression is one of people who have been tried and shocked by what has happened, because the dead include their friends and acquaintances," the group said.
The latest victims were squeezed into the hold of the boat and were already dead when it pulled into harbour with the aid of coast guard vessels, who came to the boat's rescue some 35 miles (55 km) offshore, authorities said.
They said others on the boat said the men had died from asphyxiation but a formal cause of death had still to be established. Some people on the boat had also said another man had died on the voyage and his body dropped overboard.
The men were likely dead for 48 hours based judging from the condition they were found in, a local medic, Pietro Bartolo, told the Ansa news agency.
Agencies