The Libyan Red Crescent on Tuesday said 40 bodies were found on the coastline of ports Zlit and Khoms, noting that they may be victims of a week-old shipwreck.
Joel Millman, Spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) who corroborated the incident, said he could not ascertain the exact period when the people died.
According to IOM, more than 3,000 migrants and refugees have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea since January, majority of them on the route from Libya toward Italy.