Among the dead were infants, and all came from sub-Saharan Africa, according to Walid Chtabri, spokesperson for the prosecution authority in the city of Mahdi.
Mahdi is located about 15 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa, where many migrants try to reach. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 55,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year.
According to the UN migration organization IOM, since 2014, more than 33,800 people have died in the Mediterranean in an attempt to reach Europe.
