AKIPRESS.COM - At least 17 people died when a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank in waters between Libya and southern Italy, BBC reported citing the navy officials.

Some 200 others were rescued from the boat, which went down south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.

This comes a day after it emerged that 36 migrants drowned last week when their boat sank off the Libyan coast.

Libya is used as a departure point by many African migrants trying to enter the European Union illegally.

The boat sank on Monday about 185 km (115 miles) south of Lampedusa, Italy's Ansa news agency said.

An Italian navy spokesperson said it was not clear how many people were on board, so the number of missing passengers was unknown, AP news agency reported.

The Italian navy has sent a frigate and a helicopter to help in the search for survivors.

Separately, Libya's navy said it had rescued 340 migrants from another boat after it began to take in water off the coast of the western town Sabratha, AFP reported.

On Sunday, Libyan officials said at least 36 migrants from various sub-Saharan African countries drowned when their boat sank off the Libyan coast last week.