Twenty-six irregular immigrants yesterday made their way into Ghajn Tuffieha, with three of them having already made their way to Xemxija before being caught by the police.

A police report said that at 6.30am yesterday, the police were informed that there were some people on the rocks at Ghajn Tuffieha.

An Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat was called on site and helped 16 of the immigrants who were stranded on a rock in the middle of the sea. Another seven immigrants were caught on the shore and the other three in Xemxija.

Seventeen of the illegal immigrants said they are Ivory Coast nationals, three are from Burkina Faso, two each from Liberia and Togo, and one each from Ghana and Congo.