A Russian cargo ship has rescued more than fifty illegal immigrants after they jumped from their boat near the Mediterranean island of Malta.

The Maltese army said another eight people were still missing.

The immigrants were believed to have originated from Sierra Leone and are thought to have jumped into the sea in the hope that they would be rescued and taken to Italy.

It's the latest in a series of incidents at sea involving illegal immigrants trying to reach Europe.

Turkish police say they're still rounding up an estimated six-hundred mostly Kurdish migrants whose ship ran aground in the Sea of Marmara late on Saturday.