Updated: Migrants airlifted to hospital

(Adds picture) A mother and two children are being airlifted to Mater Dei Hospital after having been rescued with a group of migrants in rough seas some 56 miles south of Malta this morning. The migrants were picked up by the Italian coastguard vessel...

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A mother and two children are being airlifted to Mater Dei Hospital after having been rescued with a group of migrants in rough seas some 56 miles south of Malta this morning.

The migrants were picked up by the Italian coastguard vessel Fiorillo. One of the children, a baby, requires urgent medical attention, the sources said.

The other migrants will be landed in Malta later today. The Fiorillo was on patrol in connection with the blue-fin tuna fishing quotas enforcement and inspections.

The air rescue is being performed by an Italian military mission helicopter with an AFM doctor on board.

A corpse was also recovered by the Fiorillo.

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