Illegal migrants' boat capsizes off Marsaxlokk

Twenty-eight African men were yesterday plucked to safety after the boat they were in capsized off Marsaxlokk.

Army personnel manning the coastal surveillance observation post on land reported the sighting of a small craft carrying illegal migrants heading towards shore in the area of Marsaxlokk at about 1 p.m. A patrol boat went to the area but before it arrived the immigrants' boat capsized and its passengers ended up in the water in the entrance to Marsaxlokk.

Two tug boats that were on their way to guide a ship into the Freeport helped rescue the immigrants, who were immediately taken ashore and given medical attention.

They were then handed over to the immigration police for further investigations.