Libya authorities find 15 bodies, some burned in boat, on shore

TRIPOLI  (Reuters) – Libyan rescue workers have recovered at least 15 bodies found on the coast in Sabratha including a number burned in a boat and others on the beach, a member of the Red Crescent in the city said.

A security source in Sabratha said the dead people were migrants caught in a dispute between two rival groups of people smugglers in the northwest 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 NATO-backed uprising against 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 agencies say they face many dangers there.

Reporting by Libya newsroom; writing by Angus McDowall; editing by Jonathan Oatis