Spanish authorities in trouble after video goes viral of police boat ramming into dinghy

Human rights organisations in Morocco and Spain have called on Spanish authorities to launch an investigation after a video went viral showing a Spanish police boat ramming over a small dinghy, carrying three people, to stop them.

The vessel carrying four policemen approached the Spanish semi-exclave of Melilla. According to the video, a larger Guardia Civil patrol boat moving towards the Zodiac inflatable was seen trying to get the small dinghy, causing at least one person to fall out of the small vessel.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The police, while speaking to the Spanish media, said that nobody had been hurt or injured and added that those on the smaller vessel had been trying to enter Spain irregularly.

Human rights organisations condemn the act

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights said that police in Morocco had also confirmed that there had been no casualties from the incident.

Further calling it "violent and dangerous", the organisation said that a source told them that the four onboard were safe and had been arrested. Moreover, they later added that the four had been handed over to Moroccan officials.

“Yet no investigation has been opened to date on the Spanish side,” it noted. “The Spaniards are totally responsible and must take responsibility for opening an investigation.”

Later, the Mellisa-based NGO Solidary Wheels called on Spain to open an investigation, in a statement, calling for a "detailed explanation" of the actions of the Guardia Civil Force.

Watch |Superyacht Disaster: Did the boat sink because of its size?

Moreover, the left-wing politicians in Spain also called on the interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to address the incident.

"What we have seen in Melilla is a disgrace and totally unacceptable,” Aina Vidal, a spokesperson for the leftwing alliance Sumar, said.

(With inputs from agencies)