Algerian coast guards rescue 20 citizens not long after they set off for illegal immigration.

The Algerian citizens were found and rescued around 15 nautical miles off the coast of the country’s north-western port city of Mostaganem on Saturday.

The illegal immigrants, headed for an unspecified destination, were stranded in high seas overnight due to engine failure.

All of the would-be migrants, aged between 18 to 32, were residents of the town of Sidi Ali.

In 2009, European Union passed a law to "combat illegal migration". Human traffickers may be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, according to the law.

According to the United Nations, more than 3,400 people died in 2014 trying to cross the Mediterranean by boat from North Africa.