At least 26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy

At least 26 migrants died Wednesday when two boats sank off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island, with around 10 others still missing, the coastguard and UN officials said.

Around 60 people were rescued after the sinkings in the central Mediterranean, a stretch between North Africa and Italy described by the UN as the world’s most dangerous sea crossing for migrants.

The two boats had left Tripoli, Libya, earlier in the day, according to the Italian coastguard.

It said one of the boats started…