The Armed Forces of Malta were called out yesterday to assist a boat containing 24 irregular immigrants which was in distress some 15 nautical miles south of Malta.

The AFM were informed in the late morning and a patrol vessel was immediately dispatched to the area in question. The boat was towed into harbour in the afternoon. Subsequent police investigations established that the immigrants were all male, 22 of them from Ivory Coast and one each from Eritrea and Mali. Immigration police are investigating.