Valletta, Malta - A pregnant African woman died Thursday shortly after being rescued from the sea by a cargo ship some 79 nautical miles off Malta, officials said. The corpses of two other female would-be immigrants were also picked up from the sea.
The ship had alerted authorities that the pregnant woman was in poor health, prompting the Maltese army to scramble a helicopter to the scene of the rescue. However, the woman died before the helicopter arrived.
The army also said a group of 28 would-be immigrants, believed to be Somalis and Nigerians, was safely rescued from the sea.
Some 81 would-be immigrants were also rescued off Malta late Wednesday.
Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi and Maltese President Eddie Fenech Adami held talks on the problem of illegal immigration in Tripoli on Wednesday.
Many of the would-be immigrants are believed to use Libya as a springboard in their attempts to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.
