One woman has died after finding herself in difficulty in rough seas in Sliema on Saturday afternoon, the police said.

Three others made it ashore on their own, the statement added.

In another statement on Sunday, the police said that the Filipino woman who died was 43 years old.

The police received information that some people needed assistance after being dragged out to sea at around 2.15pm.

When officers arrived on site, in the area known as Fond Ghadir, they found three women who were already ashore while a fourth person was still missing at sea.

A search was mounted and the fourth person was soon located, a spokesman for the police said on site.

She was unconscious and after being lifted out of the water onto a dinghy, and transported to St Julian's, she was taken to Mater Dei Hospital. The spokesman said at the time that her condition was serious.

The police later said in a statement that she had died. The statement also said that the four women who were carried out to sea were part of a group of five.

The spokesman said that the other three women were also taken to hospital.

All women are foreigners - a 23-year-old French woman, a 31-year-old Italian, and a 36-year-old from Georgia.

Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo is leading an inquiry.