A large number of migrants, possibly several hundred, may have drowned when an overcrowded boat capsized off Tripoli yesterday, Ansa news agency is reporting.
The boat is understood to have been carrying some 600 migrants heading for Europe.
The incident happened soon after the boat cast off.
16 bodies have been recovered so far including several women and three babies.
The Italian island of Lampedusa has received hundreds of migrants who left from Libya in the past few days.