The corpses of two asylum seekers were brought in by ship and three survivors were later flown into Malta by helicopter yesterday after their boat sank over the weekend in what could possibly be another major migrant tragedy.
The survivors, all men, were airlifted from another merchant vessel to the AFM’s air wing base at Luqa airport shortly before 6pm, following a search-and-rescue operation coordinated by Malta 300 miles to the south east on Saturday. The operation involved several merchant ships diverted to the location and Italian and Maltese planes.
The men were immediately taken to Mater Dei Hospital for medical attention.
They were among a group of 11 survivors claiming to be Palestinian. The other eight were taken to Greece after being rescued as they needed urgent medical care.
A National Security Ministry spokeswoman said the three were brought to Malta because international law stated that in such cases they had to be evacuated to the nearest safe port, within the Maltese search-and-rescue area.
There was still confusion yesterday about what actually took place in the incident.
According to AFM sources on Saturday, initial reports based on accounts by survivors – who were still in shock at the time – said more than 400 migrants may have perished when one boat carrying between 300 and 400 people rammed a smaller boat with 30 aboard.
The survivors and bodies appear to come from the second boat and were picked up from the water. But there was still no official confirmation of this version yesterday.
Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that a merchant vessel named Pegasus – which had raised the alarm over the incident – was heading towards the Sicilian port of Pozzallo with more than 300 migrants aboard. The asylum seekers were eventually transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel and reached Sicily late at night. However, an AFM spokesman told Times of Malta that this group had been picked up by the Pegasus from another boat before the alleged incident took place.
The rescue operation started on Saturday when the merchant ship spotted two people in the water who said they had been aboard a vessel with some 30 people.
The Malta Rescue Coordination Centre scrambled a plane and diverted merchant vessels within the area which managed to locate another six survivors.
Later, three others were pulled out of the water, bringing the total number of survivors to 11.
Rescuers spotted some corpses during the operation but nowhere near the numbers mentioned.
The two corpses included that of a girl. They were brought in at the Freeport on the merchant vessel CMA CGM Verdi at 1am yesterday.
In another development, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres was yesterday scheduled to meet the top brass of the armed forces, as part of his first ever visit to Malta.
Mr Guterres will today be meeting Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and other Cabinet members, as well as officials from the European Asylum Support Office, based in Marsa.