Valletta - Ten would-be illegal immigrants were reported dead on Wednesday by eight African survivors who were found floating on a semi-submerged dinghy off Malta.
The eight survivors, rescued by a Maltese fishing-vessel, said they were the sole remnants of a group that originally totalled 18, according to the Maltese army.
A Maltese patrol vessel taking part in the European Union border patrols was immediately sent to the area, some 40 nautical miles south of the Mediterranean island.