At least 26 die in migrant shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa island

ROME (Reuters) -At least 26 people died in a migrant shipwreck off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday and 60 were brought ashore, the coastguard said, adding that the death toll was still provisional amid ongoing search operations.

The disaster, in this case involving people travelling from Libya, is the latest to befall migrants making the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe.

An Italian law enforcement aircraft spotted a capsized boat with bodies in the water about 14 miles (23 km) off Lampedusa on Wednesday morning, triggering a rescue operation, the coastguard said in a statement.

Based on initial accounts from the rescued migrants, they departed from the Tripoli area in Libya in the early morning aboard two boats. One of the boats began taking on water and they transferred to the other vessel, which later capsized in choppy water, a source close to the matter said.

The coastguard said five ships, two aircraft and one helicopter were operating at the rescue site. Initial tallies from the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR indicated that the group of migrants comprised some 92 to 97 people.

Since the beginning of this year, 675 people have died in the central Mediterranean while trying to make the crossing, said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesperson in Italy.

Cristina Palma, who works for the Italian Red Cross in Lampedusa, said in a video statement that the survivors - 56 men and four women - were in "decent" health but four of them had been hospitalised for checks.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has vowed to block the migrant sea journeys from Africa and has passed measures against the human smugglers, including tougher jail terms, urging allies to do more to clamp down on the phenomenon.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on X that Wednesday's tragedy confirmed the need to prevent the illegal departures and to keep combatting migrant smugglers.

(Reporting by Angelo AmanteEditing by Alex Richardson, Frances Kerry and Gareth Jones)