Italian authorities have launched an investigation after 26 teenage girls were found dead at sea on Sunday.
The girls, aged 14–18, were found drowned on the Mediterranean Sea, and are believed to have been migrants from Niger and Nigeria who had attempted the treacherous journey from Libya to Europe.
CNN reports that aid workers found their bodies near a flimsy rubber dinghy that had almost sunk, with survivors hanging on to the remains of the vessel.
The boat had been carrying 64 passengers when it sank on Friday.
Lorena Ciccotti, the head of police in the Italian port town of Salerno, said that coroners would be investigating whether the girls had been tortured or sexually abused.
The survivors were among 400 people rescued from the Mediterranean by the Spanish vessel Cantabria this weekend, which is part of an EU anti-trafficking force.
Many migrants who attempt the popular and dangerous central Mediterranean route are fleeing war and persecution, while others are leaving impoverished nations in search of better economic opportunities.
A total of 2,839 migrants have died on the route this year alone, according to the International Organisation for Migration, while over 150,000 have reached European shores safely.
