Twenty-one Africans are feared drowned in another tragedy involving irregular migrants.

The details are sketchy but it is known that a Maltese-registered fishing vessel, the Budafel, picked up a man some 75 miles south of Malta, and another three were on a tuna-pen cage being towed for the owners, Azzopardi Fisheries.

Unable to communicate in English, the migrant who was picked up by the Budafel made himself understood well enough to indicate that they were part of a boatload of 26 migrants.

The AFM’s P-52 Protector-class patrol boat rushed to the scene, where earlier an overflying Air Wing Islander aircraft had not spotted anything.

However, en route to the rescue area, the AFM patrol boat recovered one body. The four survivors were brought to shore late yesterday evening.