LAMPEDUSA, Italy (Reuters) -At least 26 people died in a migrant shipwreck on Wednesday off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa and 60 survivors were brought ashore, the coastguard said, warning more bodies could be missing as search operations continue.

Italian authorities on Friday sought to identify the bodies of 27 people who died when two crowded boats sank off the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. The 27 victims, including three minors, died when two crowded boats heading from Libya capsized about 20 kilometres off Lampedusa.

Sixty people survived after two boats with nearly 100 migrants capsized. The causes of the shipwrecks were not clear, Italian officials and U.N. agencies said. The death toll is likely to grow.