According to MANA, Italian coastguard and naval ships, a vessel from the European Union's anti-smuggling mission and private aid groups rescued the people from seven boats in the central Mediterranean.
The coastguard gave no details about the six dead it found.
Most of the 4,715 deaths in the Mediterranean counted by the International Organization for Migration so far this year were reported en route to Italy from Libya, where traffickers have taken advantage of lawlessness to set up profitable businesses.