Two infants, both less than a year old, were airlifted to hospital yesterday afternoon and a woman died after a boat carrying 31 illegal immigrants capsized about 72 miles off Malta.

Last night one of the infants was stable while the other was in intensive care.

A patrol boat monitoring the northward progress of the boat immediately reported the incident when the migrants were sighted in the water.

The infants swallowed a considerable amount of seawater, the Armed Forces of Malta reported. A helicopter was deployed and flew them to hospital.

Meanwhile, a German Border Police helicopter was dispatched to the scene after reports of an unconscious woman among the migrants reached the authorities. The woman died before the arrival of the helicopter, which is participating in Frontex operations and, as such, is temporarily based in Malta.

The dead woman might be the mother of the two children as none of the migrants answered when asked if they were related to the toddlers. The group - excluding the casualties - consisted of 20 men and eight women who were wearing life jackets. They were brought ashore at Hay Wharf, Pietà, last night.