Fifty-four immigrants arrive in one day
First group lands at Peter's Pool
The influx of illegal immigrants continued yesterday pushing up the number that arrived this year and exacerbating the dire situation of lack of space at the detention centres.
Fifty-four illegal migrants reached Malta in two groups at Peter's Pool and Marsaxlokk, the police and the Armed Forces of Malta said.
The first group to arrive consisted of 26 who landed at Peter's Pool near Delimara early yesterday morning, the police said.
The group, which was rounded up by the police, consisted of 21 males and five females.
Their nationality is not yet known. A spokesman for the Armed Forces of Malta said the boat with the migrants was spotted by AFM personnel at about 5.45 a.m. from the observation and radar post at Delimara Point.
They reported having sighted illegal migrants beaching their craft near Peter's Pool.
The spokesman said that the illegal immigrants claimed that one of their group was missing. The AFM said a patrol boat intercepted the other group, consisting of 28 male migrants, three miles off Marsaxlokk harbour in the afternoon.
The migrants were on a boat taking in water.
They were taken to Wied il-Buni, Birżebbuġa, where they were handed to the police for routine investigations.