VALLETTA, Malta, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Border patrol missions scoured Italy's shore in search of a missing vessel carrying North Africans trying to reach Europe, a Maltese official said Thursday.
Seven corpses, suspected to be those of attempted illegal immigrants, were spotted in the Mediterranean about 40 miles south of Malta, the armed forces said Wednesday.
Maltese army officials were unable to recover the corpses because of poor weather conditions, CNN reported.
A Maltese patrol boat did find life jackets, officials said.
Maltese officials also "monitored a fiberglass boat that originated from North Africa carrying about 30 to 35 people on board," Maj. Ivan Consiglio told CNN.
Malta has accused European Union partners of negligence in not helping the island microstate deal with a 30 percent increase in people from North Africa, especially Libya, trying to enter Europe illegally through the island by sailing across the Mediterranean.
Malta wants EU members to "share the burden" and take some immigrants currently in Malta.
Frontex, the EU's 3-year-old border control agency, supports member states in patrolling their borders with non-member states.
