A fishing vessel with some 150 immigrants on board in the Malta-Sicily Channel is being monitored by the Armed Forces of Malta, according to La Sicilia.

A few days ago, five immigrants who landed in Lampedusa were also monitored and helped by AFM soldiers who provided them with food, water and fuel. They refused to be saved.

The immigrants told the Italian Guardia di Finanza that there had been another 78 in their group but they died during the crossing. The AFM said that if this were the case, the incident must have happened in Libyan waters since this was where the five migrants were first intercepted.