A man was assaulted with a bottle and then hit with a car as an argument got out of hand in the early hours of Sunday, the police said.

The incident happened in Gżira at about 3.15am.

The police said they were alerted to an injured man lying on the pavement at the Gżira seafront. The victim was a 29-year-old Libyan man, resident in Għargħur.

Preliminary investigations showed that he had an argument with a 34-year-old Maltese man in Stuart Street, Gżira. The Libyan man was injured when he was assaulted with a bottle.

As he tried to run away, his aggressor chased him in a car, hit him with the vehicle at the seafront, and drove on.

The police found the vehicle, abandoned, close to the site of the incident some time later. The aggressor was later located and arrested.

The victim was seriously injured. Investigations are continuing.