At least 76 people have died after a ship carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Libya, a spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent said Friday.

"Until now 76 bodies have been retrieved from the sea and 198 people have been rescued" from the boat which sank on Thursday, Mohammad al-Misrati told AFP.

Libya's coastguard initially said that 30 people had died in the disaster near the western port of Zuwara.