Bodies of 27 suspected Ethiopian migrants found in Zambia, suspected of suffocation in closed truck
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highlights
The bodies of 27 people were recovered on Sunday in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia.
It is believed that all these were Ethiopian citizens. Police has confirmed this.
One person is still alive and has been taken to the hospital for treatment.
Lusaka. The bodies of 27 people were recovered on Sunday in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. It is believed that all these were Ethiopian citizens. Police has confirmed this. Deputy police public relations officer Denny Mwale said in a statement that the police investigation showed that ‘the bodies, all men aged between 20 and 38, were dumped by unknown persons in the Ngwerere area of Lusaka.’ Mwale said they were all believed to be Ethiopian citizens. He said that one person is still alive and has been taken to the hospital for treatment.
He said that 27 bodies have been taken to the mortuary of the University Teaching Hospital for formal identification and postmortem. Mwale said that the police and other security services are investigating the matter. It is feared that all of them were migrants. They have suffocated and most probably these bodies have been thrown from a truck. Of these, only one person was alive, who was taken to a local hospital. Lusaka police said that our preliminary investigation indicates that out of a total of 28 persons, all are males in the age group of 20 to 38 years. Based on the documents recovered near these bodies, it is believed that all the migrants were coming from Ethiopia and were passing through Zambian territory.
Military conflict continues in Ethiopia, 800 people are fleeing to Sudan everyday
In October, authorities in neighboring Malawi discovered 25 bodies of Ethiopian migrants in a mass grave. At that time, the Malawi police found evidence linking former President Peter Mutharika’s stepson to the crime. Zambia has a population of 18 million and it has been fighting illegal human trafficking for many years. According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, Zambia has hosted more than 105,000 refugees from neighboring countries such as Congo, Burundi, Angola and Rwanda.
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Tags: Africa, dead body found, Migrants
FIRST PUBLISHED : December 12, 2022, 06:44 IST
