Ninth corpse found at sea

Another corpse was discovered off Bahar ic-Caghaq yesterday morning as the sea around Malta increasingly turns into a watery grave.

However, the police believe yesterday's discovery could be unconnected to the other eight corpses, generally believed to be those of immigrants, fished out from the sea in under a week. It is not excluded that the latest corpse is that of a tourist who has not yet been reported missing.

Questions have also been raised about the eighth corpse, that of a man, found at Comino on Wednesday because of his "lighter" skin colour and due to the fact that he was wearing swimming trunks.

At about 11.30 a.m. yesterday, the police were informed that a lifeless body had been sighted about two-and-a half kilometres off Bahar ic-Caghaq. The armed forces were immediately informed and a rescue boat was deployed to recover the corpse.

The body, clad in a black top, was recovered and taken to Haywharf where it was found to be in an advanced stage of decomposition to the extent that it was initially thought to be decapitated.

Sources said the man's skin tone was different to that of the bodies picked up earlier. It is thought that the corpse, which did not have any evident signs of violence, could have been out at sea for about 10 days, though the police could not provide any more information for the time being.

Apart from the autopsy, sources said that DNA and dental tests would be carried out to try and shed some light on the identity of the corpse.

Duty Magistrate Lawrence Quintano appointed several experts to help him in an inquiry.

The police said it was still too early to establish whether the bodies found so far were connected to the same incident though all autopsies confirmed they had died of drowning.

A half-submerged boat discovered on Monday is suspected to have been carrying some of the individuals whose corpses have been discovered. The six-metre boat is similar to the ones used to transport between 25 and 30 immigrants at a time in recent months.

In the meantime, the search by the Civil Protection Department and the armed forces for the corpse of Albert Brian Rosso off Marsaxlokk once again yielded no results.

Twenty-eight divers, with the help of a robotic camera, are involved in the search for Mr Rosso's body who is believed to have been dumped in the sea sometime after he disappeared on October 10. The search will continue tomorrow. Two men have been arraigned and charged with Mr Rosso's murder.