Ten bodies were recovered and more than 2,100 people were saved in Saturday migrant rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, the Italian coastguard said.
A spokesman said the victims were all found on the same rubber dinghy. He could not be specific about its location.
There were 15 rescue operations in total, involving Italy's coastguard and navy, a Spanish navy vessel taking part in the EU border agency mission Frontex, and several ships run by NGOs and private vessels, the coastguard official added.
This year has been the deadliest on record for Mediterranean migrant tragedies.
Some 4,220 people have died or gone missing while crossing from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe, according to International Organization for Migration records last updated Friday.
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