An Italian fishing trawler has rescued 13 migrants but another five are believed to have drowned when their boat capsized in rough seas some 85 miles south east of Malta, the AFM said.

The trawler Pegaso raised the alarm at about 3.10 p.m. The 13 rescued men said another five migrants were missing, believed drowned .

The AFM deployed an Islander aircraft to conduct a search but there has been no sighting so far.

Meanwhile, one of the rescued migrants fell unconscious on the trawler and a Malta-based Italian Air Force AB212 rescue helicopter was scrambled to the scene to ferry him to Mater Dei Hospital.

The Pegaso is to bring the migrants to Malta early on Tuesday.

Picture: Some of the migrants rest on the Pegaso.