VALLETTA June 1 (Reuters) - A Maltese military patrol boat rescued 76 migrants from a boat in distress some 120 km (75 miles) southeast of the Mediterranean island on Wednesday.
The Maltese armed forces said the boat was first spotted by NATO aircraft and was carrying migrants from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Bangladesh, and Chad.
The boat appeared to have left on Saturday from the Libyan port of Misrata, until recently the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of a three-month rebel uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule.
For weeks forces loyal to Gaddafi had besieged and bombarded Misrata, some 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, but about two weeks ago rebel fighters, with backing from NATO airstrikes, pushed Gaddafi's troops out to the city's outskirts.
Some of the migrants needed hospital treatment. The Maltese armed forces said that a man had died on the boat and was thrown overboard.
Thousands of people fleeing upheavals in North Africa have been heading to Italy on rickety boats in recent months, creating an immigration crisis in Lampedusa, an island situated half way between Tunisia and Sicily.
(Reporting by Chris Scicluna; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
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