[attach id=253359 size="medium"]One of the migrants in Malta after the rescue. Photo: Press Office/AFM[/attach]

A group of 83 African migrants arrived in Malta early yesterday morning after they were rescued by the army from a sinking dinghy.

The rubber dinghy, which held 82 men and a woman, had begun taking in water when it was around 31 nautical miles south of Malta, the Armed Forces of Malta said.

The army’s Rescue and Coordination Centre was alerted and a search for the dinghy was carried out by patrol aircraft.

The aircraft successfully located the migrants and a patrol craft was sent to the area to give assistance at around 12.30am yesterday morning.

The rough sea made the operation a challenging one for rescuers but the migrants, who are claiming to be Somali nationals, arrived at Haywharf at around 1.30am.