Italian officials have 15 Muslims under arrested after it was discovered they singled out Christians to throw overboard during a crossing from Africa to Italy.

Authorities in Palermo, Sicily, are charging the Muslims with suspicion of murder.

The Christians were part of a boatload of migrants who left Libya Tuesday in a rubber boat.  Police say the Muslims, who are from Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal, began to throw the Christians overboard as they were in the middle of the crossing.

The dead are from Nigeria and Ghana.

The remaining passengers reportedly formed a human chain to stop the Muslims from being able to kill anyone else on the boat.

Thousands each year attempt to make the voyage from Africa to the European coast and die in the process.  Rarely do people die from deliberate means as the Christians who were killed in this incident.