The Armed Forces of Malta Rescue Coordination Centre said that it has been monitoring a vessel carrying around 85 adults. The migrants were in distress and considering inclement weather conditions it has been decided to proceed with a rescue operation East of Malta.
The AFM said that its personnel used all precautionary measures to assure safety of the migrants themselves and that of the AFM crew.
According to the migrants onboard, originally there had been around 100 people on the boat, but 20 died.
AFM arrived with the migrants at Haywharf Base in Floriana this morning.
File Photograph AFM