Barefoot or wearing Nike and Adidas trainers, a group of 82 migrants were relieved to walk on solid ground yesterday after they were rescued from their drifting dinghy.

The group – which included 10 women, one of whom appeared to be pregnant, and a child just a few months old – were rescued from choppy seas in the early morning after sending an SOS via satellite phone that their dinghy’s engine had broken down. They are claiming to be of Somali origin.

The message was received at the coordination centre in Italy which alerted the Armed Forces of Malta that there was a boat with migrants south of Malta.

An AFM maritime patrol aircraft was dispatched to the area where the dinghy was located adrift 68 nautical miles south of Malta just after midnight.

A patrol boat was also dispatched to the area and the migrants were taken off their dinghy and brought to Malta.

Another 260 immigrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa on three boats.

None of those who reached Malta required medical assistance and they seemed to be in good shape. Some smiled and others waved but they were evidently exhausted.

After spending so long at sea, some could not manage to walk while others were losing their balance and had to be helped off the patrol boat. Most had wet clothes while the mother with the young child was clutching a can of powdered formula milk for her child.

The migrants were escorted to two waiting police vans and taken to police headquarters for questioning.