Suspected human traffickers have killed 22 African migrants and buried them on a beach in Libya.
The nationalities of the victims have not been determined.
The victims were believed to have refused to board the traffickers’ boat, which was attempting to sail from the beach at Sabratah, 45 miles west of Tripoli, to Italy or Malta.
They were reportedly killed by the traffickers when they complained about the bad weather and the risks of making the hazardous journey across the Mediterranean.
The Libyan Red Crescent said the killings took place over the weekend.
The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed the deaths and said: “There seems to have been an exchange of fire between the smugglers, which resulted in the death of 22 migrants.”
Six years since a revolution and NATO intervention that toppled the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has become a key departure point for clandestine migration to Europe.
Smugglers organise frequent crossings from western Libya to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a 190-mile trip.
The IOM said 521 immigrants died in the Mediterranean between January 1 and March 5 this year.
European Union leaders will today discuss their plan to cut the tide of migrants from Libya to Italy, but there are fears the calmer spring weather will bring a new surge of arrivals from Africa.
Arrival numbers from lawless Libya are already higher than last year – 13,500 people made the perilous voyage in January and February, compared with 9,000 in 2016.
One diplomat said: “The numbers are already significantly higher than last year. There is growing concern. It just looks like it will happen all over again.”
The Libya plan includes training the coastguard of the internationally recognised government in Tripoli to have it intercept people and put them back on Libyan shores, as well as funding the UN refugee and migrants agencies to improve conditions in migrant camps in Libya.
There will also be more help to send migrants back to their home countries in Africa.
The bodies of the victims after they were exhumed by the Libyan Red Cross. 
I am surprised people still fails to understand the risk of exploiting this God forsaken route in search of greener pasture. It is quite unfortunate lives are being lost almost daily on these routes yet, people are still determined exploiting same without minding the consequences. May the souls of the departed rest in peace.