Somalia's government said on Monday about 200 or more Somalis may have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to cross illegally to Europe, many of them teenagers, when the boat they were on capsized after leaving the Egyptian shore. However, a report by BBC Arabic states that the casualties might have gone up to 400. Italian President Sergio Mattarella had said earlier on Monday that several hundred people appeared to have died in a new tragedy in the Mediterranean, after unconfirmed reports spoke of up to 400 victims of capsizing near Egypt's coast.

One year ago, an estimated 800 migrants drowned off the Libyan coast when the fishing boat they were travelling in collided with a mercantile vessel that was attempting to rescue them - the most deadly Mediterranean shipwreck in decades. Egyptian, Italian and Greek officials had earlier been unable to confirm the report of a new sinking.

A U.N. refugee agency official told Swiss broadcaster SRF he knew of 40 survivors from what appeared to be the same incident. "We know there are 40 survivors and that as many as 460 people may have been on the boat who sailed from Egypt," the UNHCR's Beat Schuler told the broadcaster in what it said was a report from Malta.

In an article on the Somali National News Agency (SONNA) website, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud on Monday "sent his heartfelt condolence on his behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Somalia to the families who lost their loved ones". The president urged Somalis to stand together in helping "stop such hazardous trips to overseas".

Somalia has a large diaspora, with many Somalis in Europe and the United States, after fleeing two decades of conflict. The Western-backed government is seeking to rebuild the Horn of Africa nation but is still battling an Islamist insurgency.

Islamist al Shabaab rebels often carry out gun and bomb attacks, particularly in the capital Mogadishu, where some hardy Somalis business people are returning to from abroad to invest.