A pregnant woman was among 180 immigrants who landed safely at Delimara last night after they were rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta as the fishing boat they were on started taking in water about 19 nautical miles to the south west of the island, a senior army officer said. The big bulk of the immigrants - 176 - were males. The army was informed of the immigrants by the Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome when the boat was still outside Malta's search and rescue region.

AFM patrol boat P51 was despatched and because the fishing boat was taking in water due to the rough sea and strong north westerly wind it was decided to shift the immigrants onto the army vessel.

The army spokesman said the search and rescue boat Melita 1 was also deployed in order to assist and ensure a safe journey ashore for the immigrants.

The immigrants were landed close to the power station in Delimara at about 9.40 p.m. where they were handed over to the immigration police and medical officers. Police Superintendent Neville Xuereb and Inspector Mario Haber were on site to oversee the operation.

The vessel left from north Africa and the immigrants are north Africans, sources said. They were taken to the army's Lyster Barracks in Luqa where army personnel were recalled to set up tents and provide bedding for the new arrivals.