Italy's coastguard said Sunday two migrants died after they were rescued along with more than 30 others in the Mediterranean off the eastern coast of Sicily.

The coastguard said it received a distress call late Saturday from a boat located about 17 miles southeast of Syracuse carrying Syrian, Egyptian and Bangladeshi migrants.

Search and rescue operations began after the coastguard dispatched a patrol boat and plane to the area, but "the occupants of the vessel ended up in the water as the patrol boat approached," it said in a statement.

Although 34 people were recovered from the water, put onto the patrol boat and transferred to Syracuse's port, one died upon arrival and another after reaching the hospital.

"The search at sea for a missing person who was on board the vessel, which later sank, is currently under way," it said.

The coastguard said it was investigating how the migrants ended in the water as the boat approached.

At least 384 migrants died in the first quarter of this year crossing by sea via the central Mediterranean route towards Italy and Malta, according to the International Organization for Migration.