Italian boat rescues migrants

A group of 27 migrants was rescued by an Italian fishing vessel 40 nautical miles east of Malta yesterday.

The rescue follows hard on the heels of the arrival of 180 illegal immigrants who were plucked to safety or recovered on the high seas to the south of Malta on Thursday in three separate operations.

The Armed Forces of Malta's Operations Centre at Luqa Barracks was informed by the Rome Rescue Centre at about 7.37 a.m. that the Italian fishing vessel Maria Elena had rescued the 27 illegal migrants after their small boat took in water.

The fishing vessel was instructed by the AFM to approach Malta in order to offload the rescued migrants. This was done in two shuttle trips by the Maritime Squadron's Vittoria-class rescue launch Melita-2.