Illegal immigrants saved from the Mediterranean today were taken to the nearest place of safety in Tunisia.

The Armed Forces of Malta said in a statement that it had coordinated the rescue and recovery of the 229 immigrants, who were earlier reported adrift some 143 nautical miles from Malta.

The AFM coordinated the operation together with the Tunisian and Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres.

Merchant vessels navigating in the area were alerted to keep a sharp lookout during their voyage.

One merchant vessel steamed to the area to assist and the Tunisian authorities dispatched two patrol vessels to locate the migrants’ drifting boat.

The boat was early this afternoon intercepted by the Tunisian patrol vessels. Onboard were Asian and African nationals, who claimed they had left from Libya.

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