Valletta, Malta  - The UN refugee agency asked the Maltese authorities Thursday to broaden the search for those missing in what is believed to be one of the deadliest incidents involving would-be illegal immigrants in the Mediterranean.

In a statement, the UNHCR urged the Maltese authorities to provide medical care to eight African migrants rescued in an incident which is believed to have left at least 70 people missing and feared dead.

Valletta, Malta - Two rescue helicopters on Thursday were searching for as many as 70 illegal migrants reported missing off Malta.

They were reported missing by eight of their companions who were found floating on a half-submerged dinghy some 40 miles south of the Mediterranean island.

Initially there was some confusion about the number of missing migrants, with the survivors telling a fishermen who rescued them that they were in a group of 18. The number was revised late Wednesday after a top official from the UN Commission for Refugees interviewed the survivors.

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.

Valletta, Malta  - A German company is in advanced talks to set up a factory in Malta to produce dietary supplements to assist people suffering from immune system problems, group CEO Edmund Krix sa

Valletta, Malta  - Two would-be illegal immigrants, including a baby, were airlifted to hospital in Malta from a fishing boat early Thursday morning.

Valletta, Malta  - A total of 56 would-be immigrants were rescued off Malta early Thursday morning and brought to shore following two separate operations.

In the first, the owner of a tanker vessel alerted Maltese officials that his crew had come across a group of Africans on board a rickety boat who were asking for fuel and food.

A Maltese rescue vessel was dispatched to the scene, bringing 26 would-be immigrants, including two women to shore.