ROME, March 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Italian rescuers on Friday resumed search of three Chinese missing off the coast of southern Sicily after abandoned at sea by immigrant smugglers, local media reported.

    Bodies of six illegal immigrants - five men and one woman - were recovered on Thursday near Ragusa, some 15 miles off the southern tip of Sicily along with six survivors, according to the reports.

    Three Chinese men, however, are still missing and feared dead. Helicopters and coastguard boats were reported to have joined in the search Friday morning.

    The six survivors, four men and two women from China and Mongolia, are being treated in hospital. None are in a life-threatening condition, said the reports.

    One of the Chinese survivors told police that she and 14 other people had set out from Malta late Wednesday night aboard a powerful motorized dinghy.

    Once the dinghy got to within 15 miles of the southern coast ofSicily, the traffickers forced them to jump overboard and then sped away, fearful of being caught by an Italian marine patrol, the survivor said, adding they had been asked to hand over money for the passage before jumping into the water. Enditem