Two men who died when their fishing boat capsized in rough seas on Friday have been identified and named by Italian media.

Toumi Zakaria and Luciano Sapienza were among four men aboard the Zaira, a small fishing vessel believed to have sailed from Syracuse on May 1. The bodies of both men were found on Saturday, following an overnight storm which left the sailors floundering.

Mr Sapienza, who owned the Zaira, his son Fabio Antonio and two workers - Moroccan national Mr Zakaria and another man – manned the 45-foot Zaira during the trip.

The four men got caught up in a squall on Friday night as they were fishing off Marsascala. According to La Repubblica, they were in the area with two other fishing vessels from Syracuse. While those two vessels managed to head north and avoid the brunt of the storm, the Zaira did not.

“They were swept up by a large wave, “ the wife of the younger Sapienza aboard the ship told La Repubblica. “They set out on May 1. Our family relies on fishing to get by,” she said.

The incident is now being investigated by local authorities.