At least eight illegal immigrants have died attempting to swim ashore in Sicily. The deaths come exactly one week after almost 40 Africans drowned while also attempting to reach Italy.
Police said the bodies of the eight immigrants were found on a beach close to Ragusa, in the southeast of the island, after some 50 immigrants were unloaded from a ship off the Sicilian coast.
An official said that local residents reported having seen a ship anchor some 50 metres (yards) off the coast and then quickly disappear.
Thousands of illegal immigrants head to Italy every month, most travelling by boat from North Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey.
Earlier this year, a boat loaded with nearly 1,000 Kurdish refugees came ashore in the Sicilian port of Catania.
Accidents are common because many of the boats are barely sea-worthy. In March this year, a boat carrying an estimated 70 illegal immigrants capsized in heavy seas south of Sicily, killing at least 50 people.
Earlier this month, Italy's conservative government enacted tough new legislation to try to stem the tide of immigrants, stepping up coastal patrols and giving police and the navy greater powers to monitor and board suspect boats.
But figures from the Interior Ministry show the flood of immigrants has increased so far this year, rising by about 30 percent in the first six months over the same period last year.