This is the first migrant shipwreck of the year 2021, the UNHCR said.
The boat left the northwestern Libyan city of Zawya on Tuesday morning and reportedly capsized a few hours after departure due to poor sea conditions and when the engine stopped, the UNHCR said.
The people who died were all men from West African countries, the UNHCR added.
“Survivors, mainly from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, reported that those who died were all men from West African countries,” the UNHCR said.
Last year, hundreds of people were killed attempting to cross the central Mediterranean, where the highest number of fatalities on a single migration trip worldwide took place, the statement said.
“IOM and UNHCR fear that due to the limited ability to follow routes, the actual number of people killed in the Central Mediterranean by 2020 could be much higher,” it added.