Valletta, Malta - The Maltese military recovered Thursday the bodies of three would-be immigrants, while officials described the expected arrival on the island nation of over 100 illegal immigrants as a "crisis situation."

The bodies - including that of a pregnant woman - were pulled from the water by the crew on board a military patrol boat which was returning to Malta after taking on board
25 would-be immigrants.

The group, with their boat in distress, had been rescued earlier by a Maltese trawler, officials said.

In a separate incident, an Italian patrol boat, operating with the European Union agency for external border security, Frontex, brought 86 would-be immigrants to Malta on Thursday morning.

The group was found crammed on a vessel which was drifting on waters that fall under Libya's responsibility, Maltese military sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Italian patrol boat decided to take the group on board after Libyan officials refused to cooperate in the rescue operation.

Officials also mentioned unconfirmed reports of several other boats heading towards European shores from Libya, including a large dinghy carrying around 100 would-be immigrants.

A distress signal was apparently launched from the vessel, the officials said.

Malta's military has been stretched in recent weeks trying to deal with the illegal immigration, amid frustration in Valletta over the Frontex's apparent inability to deal with the problem.

A boat carrying 27 illegal migrants landed in Malta on Wednesday at Sliema, one of the main tourist hot spots, just 12 hours after another boat arrived at Xlendi with a similar number. (dpa)