Tripoli 23 Oct (ANA) - At least four migrants have died after a speedboat labelled "Libyan Coast Guard" attacked a dinghy, according to a migrant rescue organisation. Sea Watch said men from the speedboat boarded the dinghy and beat migrants with sticks, causing a "mass panic". At least four of the 150 people on board the dinghy fell into the water and drowned, Sea Watch said. A spokesman for Libya's naval forces in Tripoli said he had not heard about the incident. The motive for the attack was not clear, but Ruben Neugebauer, a spokesman for Sea Watch, said the attackers were attempting to steal the dinghy's engine. Mr Neugebauer said that 25 people remained missing.

Sea Watch, a German organisation, said in a statement: "The violent intervention of the Libyan Coast Guard caused a situation of mass panic on board the rubber boat in distress. "One tube of the rubber boat collapsed, causing the majority of the 150 people to slip into the water." (ANA)

FA/ANA/23 October 2016----