Italy to investigate Libyan coastguard’s ‘attempted shipwreck’ of migrant boat

Officials to be investigated after film appears to show patrol boat firing shots at a vessel carrying 64 people in the Mediterranean

Prosecutors in Sicily have launched an investigation against the Libyan coastguard after footage emerged appearing to show officials firing on a boat of migrant families in the Mediterranean Sea.

On 30 June, rescue workers from the German organisation Sea-Watch recorded the Libyan coastguard patrol vessel coming dangerously close to the small wooden boat and apparently firing shots in an attempt to force the 64 people onboard back to Libya.