17 illegal immigrants are feared to have drowned in Maltese territorial waters after the vessel they were travelling on sank 40 miles off the Eastern Maltese coast. Another 12 illegal immigrants who were on the same vessel were rescued and brought to Malta at 06:00CET on Sunday morning.
 Among those feared dead is a 40-day-old infant.
The incident was reported to the AFM Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) by MRCC Rome on Saturday evening. It transpired that an Italian Fishing Vessel encountered 12 'persons in water', 40 NM East of Malta. The survivors stated that they had been on a boat with another 17 persons when they found themselves in difficulty and the boat sank. Initially it was thought that 15 persons were aboard the boat.
A search by an AFM Patrol Vessel was initiated during the night in the last known position of the survivors in order to rescue the reported missing persons. The fishing vessel conveyed the 12 rescued persons to Malta and these have been handed over to the Police Authorities at 0600CET on Sunday.
The search operation continued on Sunday when a fixed wing 'Islander' Aircraft commenced a search at 0530 hours. A Protector Class Patrol Vessel set sail to assist in the search for any possible survivors. However, the searches yielded no fruitful results and it is feared that the missing illegal immigrants drowned.
Read more about this issue on MaltaMedia's special feature:
Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations.
See also:
Illegal immigrants rescued; search ongoing
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 30, 2006, 10:27 CET
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