Soldiers scour Comino for group of phantom migrants

More than 52 special duty soldiers in full gear yesterday ended up in a three-hour wild goose chase on Comino after receiving a "tip-off" that illegal immigrants were running loose on the island.

Spreading in a line formation, the soldiers from C (Special Duties) Company and the Maritime Squadron fanned out across the tiny island to look for a group of 55 immigrants that had reportedly been seen there.

It seems that the one police officer manning the station received a phone call at around 9.30 a.m. from a female tourist staying at the island's only hotel. The woman, who has not yet been identified, claimed she saw a large group of around 55 illegal immigrants running around in Comino, army sources said.

As a result, the army sent out a patrol aircraft over Comino and spotted a small number of individuals who looked suspicious. This information was enough to send out a patrol boat loaded with the soldiers, specially trained in weapons and tactics, at around 1 p.m.

Fully equipped, the soldiers swarmed over the island in an attempt to find the group of immigrants. Leaving the helmets and the shields on the beach, they painstakingly searched all of Comino for three hours.

Leaving no stone unturned, they even searched the only campsite in the area and the pig farm and cordoned off the hotel to make sure no immigrant was hiding inside.

The search was finally called off at 4 p.m. after no immigrants were found anywhere.