Two illegal immigrants were stopped by soldiers in front of the airport departures lounge after escaping from the detention centre at about 6 p.m. yesterday.

After the break-out, an army Alouette helicopter was dispatched to monitor the movements of the immigrants on the run, sources said.

The armed forces were also engaged in an operation after the Italian fishing vessel Angela reported to Valletta Port Control that a boat with immigrants was spotted adrift about 81 kilometres to the south of Malta. A patrol craft was sent out and reached the boat at about 6 p.m.

Another 27 illegal immigrants, including a woman, landed in the area known as Il-Maghluq , in Marsaxlokk, on Tuesday night. The sources said most of the immigrants hailed from Eritrea.

Last night the army was coordinating two operations involving boats carrying illegal immigrants.

An AFM Protector Class vessel was proceeding south east towards one boat while a Swift Class Patrol craft was monitoring a second vessel.