Four corpses spotted at sea

The Armed Forces is expected to dispatch a vessel after four corpses were spotted at sea some 55 miles south west of Malta.

The bodies spotted by an aircraft of the Italian Military Mission - are believed to belong to illegal immigrants who were on a boat with a group of 26, four of whom survived.

At the centre of the latest migrant drama on Wednesday was the Maltese tuna fishing vessel Budafell, which sparked international outrage last month after it allegedly left 27 African immigrants clinging to a tuna pen it was carrying for three days.

The vessel took on board a migrant, while another three men remained on the vessel's towed tuna pen, some 76 miles south of Malta, according to the Maltese army. Though unable to communicate in English, the migrant who made it on board made himself understood enough to say that they were part of a boatload of 26 migrants.

An Armed Forces patrol boat rushed to the scene, and en route, recovered a corpse.

In the meantime, 29 illegal immigrants, including two children and six women, landed at Wied iz-Zurrieq yesterday afternoon. It was the owner of a nearby restaurant who alerted the police that the immigrants had moored in the bay.

Italian news agencies also reported last night that another boat with around 40 immigrants on board was spotted some 55 miles south of Lampedusa.

Though the boat was in Maltese search and rescue waters, a spokesman for the Armed Forces last night told The Times that the Italians would be assisting the immigrants, given the boat's geographical proximity to Lampedusa.