6:55 p.m. (1655 GMT, 12:55 EDT)

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi says officials are "not in a position to confirm or verify" that a migrant smugglers' boat that capsized off Libya's coast had 700 people aboard, as one survivor told rescuers.

Renzi told reporters in Rome on Sunday evening that so far there were 28 survivors and 24 dead. Renzi says the boat was headed to Malta.

The premier said 18 ships, including cargo ships, were helping in the search mission.

He ruled out any naval blockade off Libya's coast, saying that would only "wind up helping the smugglers" since military ships would be there to rescue any migrants. He also said migrants can't be forced back to Libya, because of the violent chaos there.

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6:35 p.m. (1635 GMT, 12:35 p.m. EDT)

Germany's interior minister says fighting criminals that smuggle people to Europe for money should be a "central point" in improved migration policy.

Thomas de Maiziere made the statement Sunday after reports that hundreds of people may have drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in Libyan waters.

He said that "there are no simple answers" and that a Europe-wide response was called for.

He said that "we cannot and we will not tolerate these criminals sacrificing human lives on a large scale out of sheer greed."

Maiziere said investigative efforts by police agency Europol had made a good start. He called for better coordination among EU member countries as well as the countries people are fleeing from and the countries they transit.

Maiziere said that "every death is one too many."

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5:40 p.m. (1540 GMT, 11:40 a.m. EDT)

The head of the United Nations' refugee agency says the latest deaths of migrants at sea in the Mediterranean show the need for stronger rescue capabilities.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement Sunday that the capsizing of an overloaded boat in Libyan waters "confirms how urgent it is to restore a robust rescue-at-sea operation."

He says that "otherwise people seeking safety will continue to perish at sea."

Guterres says the agency has urged the European Union for an "urgent response" and to deploy stronger search and rescue forces, and to increase legal avenues for safe migration.

Last year, he said 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean by sea and 3,500 died. This year, 35,000 asylum seekers and migrants have reached Europe so far.

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4:55 p.m. (1455 GMT, 10:55 a.m. EDT)

Spain's prime minister says words aren't enough anymore and he urged the European Union to take swift action after a boat believed to be crowded with about 700 migrants capsized north of Libya overnight.

There are 24 people confirmed dead, but there are fears that hundreds of others are missing, in what could become the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant sea disaster.

"Today, and this is the umpteenth time, we hear of yet another human tragedy in the Mediterranean, off the Libyan coast," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a political rally Sunday. "It's a daily drama. Three days ago it was 400 people. Four days ago they were 10."

Rajoy says a response has to come from Europe and that "words won't do anymore." He says "we have to act, and as Europeans we are gambling with our credibility if we aren't able to stop these dramatic situations that are now happening on a daily basis."