Valletta, Malta - Scores of soldiers in full riot gear spent over three hours Thursday searching in vain for would-be illegal immigrants off a tiny Maltese island. The search was carried out after a tourist on the island of Comino - measuring just 2.5 square kilometres and with a resident population of eight - filed a report stating she had seen some 50 would-be migrants.
An aircraft was first sent to scout the area, before the soldiers were sent in, The Times of Malta reported.
The Maltese islands are often the landing point for hundreds of people fleeing Africa.
