The Italian Coast Guard said that two migrants were killed and another was missing when a boat with more than thirty people on board sank 17 miles to the south-east, near the city of Syracuse in Sicily.

The authority released a press release saying that after receiving a distress signal late Saturday night, both a Coast Guard boat and aircraft made their way to the region, where they rescued and transported 34 people to the Port of Syracuse.

One migrant, however, died upon arrival in the port. Another died later at hospital. According to the coast guard, it is still looking for a missing person.

On board were migrants of Syrian, Egyptian, and Bengali descent.

More than 23,500 migrants are reported to have been killed or missing since 2014 in the central Mediterranean, according to U.N. statistics.

(source: Reuters)