Ban "is deeply saddened to hear reports of the loss of lives as another boat carrying migrants capsized yesterday," Martin Nesirky said, also citing a separate "tragic incident" near Lampedusa days earlier.
The UN chief called on the international community "to take action to prevent such tragedies in the future," he said.
He urged "measures that address their root causes" and ones that place "the vulnerability and human rights of migrants at the center of the response."