VALLETTTA Aug 30 (Reuters) Twenty-five migrants are missing, believed dead in the Mediterranean off Malta, after a rescue attempt went tragically wrong on Thursday.

The Maltese armed forces said the missing migrants were among 28 on a small open boat which was intercepted by a Greek tug in the early hours, 72 miles south of Malta.

As the tug approached the boat the migrants moved to one side and the boat capsized in choppy seas.

Despite a search by the tug, only three were recovered. A Maltese military aircraft joined the search at daybreak along with a patrol boat.

The three survivors were transferred to a patrol boat and landed in Malta on Thursday afternoon.

The military said the missing were 21 men and four women. There was no immediate word on where they had come from.

Officials said migrant flows across the Mediterranean had increased since patrols by Frontex, the EU's border control agency, ended early this month.

Another boatload of 30 migrants arrived in Malta on Thursday. Two more two boats arrived the day before.

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