Libya authorities find bodies of 15 migrants, some burned in boat

Libyan rescue workers have recovered at least 15 bodies in the coastal city of Sabratha, including a number burned in a boat and others on the beach, a member of the Red Crescent said on Friday.

A security source in Sabratha said the dead people were migrants caught in a dispute between two rival groups of people smugglers in the northwestern Libyan city, a major hub for illegal migration across the Mediterranean.

Pictures shared on social media, which Reuters was not immediately able to verify, showed a burning boat on a beach with dark smoke pouring from it and what appeared to be the same vessel, scorched inside and containing charred human remains.

Libya has had little peace since the 2011 revolution against long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi and much of the country is controlled on the ground by rival armed factions.

The country has become a major transit point for migrants seeking to travel to Europe in search of a better life, but international organisations say they face many dangers there.

(Reuters)