Rescued migrants may taken to Malta during the night

The Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) is leading a rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants capsized Friday in waters between Malta and Italy's Sicily, according to local report. Migrants who are in critical conditions are being evacuated by helicopter to medical facilities in the Italian island of Lampedusa, while other migrants are being brought to Malta. Some 50 people, including 10 children, have reportedly died after the boat carrying some 250 African migrants capsized. The AFM said there were 56 survivors, including 39 men, eight women and nine infants/children on the Italian warship. Another 150 survivors, including 113 males, 20 women and 17 children, were on the AFM patrol boat. It is also said that a significant number of the survivors were rescued from the raft it deployed when the boat capsized. The heavily overloaded boat was first spotted by an AFM King Air aircraft at 4 p.m. local time. It dropped a life-raft close to the persons in distress. An AFM patrol boat arrived on the scene at 5.51 p.m. and immediately initiated SAR activities, the Maltese government said. An Italian warship and two Italian navy vessels are assisting in the rescue. A government spokesman said the incident happened some 60 nautical miles south of Lampedusa just inside the Maltese search and rescue area. The boat was closer to the Italian island. "We were first told that the craft appeared unstable, but it had then capsized. We're informed that numerous people are in the water. Some are wearing life jackets. Others are not. Italian patrol vessels are also assisting," said the spokesman. More than 300 people drowned when a boat carrying Eritrean and Somali migrants sank near Lampedusa just over a week ago.