Illegal migrant flown to hospital

A man was airlifted to St Luke's Hospital on Saturday after the captain of a Gibraltar-registered ship spotted a drifting boat with 74 illegal immigrants aboard, 133 miles north east of Malta. The rescue operation was carried out by an Italo-Maltese...

A man was airlifted to St Luke's Hospital on Saturday after the captain of a Gibraltar-registered ship spotted a drifting boat with 74 illegal immigrants aboard, 133 miles north east of Malta.

The rescue operation was carried out by an Italo-Maltese joint crewed Italian military helicopter.

The Armed Forces of Malta said the captain of mv Zuiderdiep contacted the AFM operations centre requesting assistance on Saturday afternoon.

The ship was sailing from Tarragona, Spain, to Antalya, Turkey, when it sighted a six-metre long boat with illegal immigrants aboard.

The ship recovered all the passengers from the boat and following coordination between the AFM operations centre and MRCC Rome the ship was directed to proceed to the nearest port of safe haven; Syracuse, Sicily.

En route to its destination, the Zuiderdiep's captain requested medical assistance.

The Zuiderdiep arrived in Syracuse in the early hours of yesterday morning and the illegal immigrants were taken ashore for medical assistance and investigation.

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