Five Drown In Migrant Boat Sinking Off Malta

Five migrants drowned on Friday and eight were hospitalised after the boat they were in capsized during a rescue operation by armed forces from Malta off the Mediterranean island

Valletta, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2024) Five migrants drowned on Friday and eight were hospitalised after the boat they were in capsized during a rescue operation by armed forces from Malta off the Mediterranean island.

Rescue workers were searching the area for any other possible victims, the army's deputy commander Colonel Edric Zahra told a press conference.

"The boat capsized suddenly while the rescue operation was underway," he said.

The armed forces (AFM) had been alerted earlier Friday to a boat carrying several migrants close to fish farms off Zonqor on Malta's southern coast.

A surveillance plane confirmed the location and a patrol boat was dispatched to the area.

A photograph released by the armed forces showed the patrol boat nearing the migrant vessel, with some on board wearing what look like red life jackets.

"These migrant boats are usually heavily loaded with people. The chances are that when people move about, the boat loses balance," Zahra said, adding that "the migrants ended up in the water."

"Eight are receiving medical care in hospital and unfortunately five were brought ashore dead," he said, adding that the dead were four men and a woman.