"There was nothing we could do for seven of them. For two, their condition is critical," reads a statement from the rescue organization.
Last week, a surveillance flight discovered eleven dead people in the water, also off the coast of Libya, SOS Méditerranée reported.
The route across the central Mediterranean to Europe is the deadliest, according to the UN migration agency IOM. So far this year, nearly 900 deaths have been reported.
Late Sunday, 42 migrants were rescued off the coast of Mauritania.
