This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

At least 21 people have died and hundreds more are missing after two boats heading for Italy sank off Libya in separate incidents. The victims are thought to be illegal migrants looking for a new life in Europe, Libyan officials said last night.

The bodies were found after a boat containing 253 people went down, while at least 23 people were rescued by Libyan coastguards when a packed second boat sank. Another 342 people said to be on board are still missing.

Two other boats have been spotted drifting off the coast of the north African state in recent days. The dead and missing are thought to be African migrants heading for Europe illegally.

One official told Reuters news agency: "We have information that two more boats were drifting off Libya's coast but we do not know the exact conditions and the number of migrants on board."

Another official said: "The boat incidents took place in the past two days and rescue and search operations are continuing."

But sources also said it was not clear whether all the boats had sailed from Libya. The country has become a popular jumping-off point for the dangerous journey. It signed a new accord with Italy in February in an effort to stem the flow of migration.

There has been a 50% increase in the number of migrants reaching Italy's southern coast after dangerous crossings from northern Africa, according to UN figures.

Laura Boldrini, a UNHCR spokeswoman in Italy, said recently that these had become "increasingly frequent.

Migrants were also being consigned by traffickers to "ever more unseaworthy vessels".