27 suspected Ethiopian migrants bodies found dead in Zambia
The bodies of 27 suspected Ethiopian migrants have been found on the roadside in Ngwerere area north of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, BBC reported on Monday.
Quoting a Zambian official BBC reported the migrants all of whom are men are believed to have died as a result of suffocation while in transit.
The BBC report further said police believe the dead migrants are Ethiopian nationals based on the identity documents found on them.
Reports of Ethiopian migrants deaths on the road trail leading from Ethiopia to South Africa are fairly common, with migrants most often dying because of suffocation in smuggling trucks or from exhaustion while trekking on foot.
In October, authorities in another southern Africa nation, Malawi uncovered the bodies of 25 Ethiopian migrants in a mass grave.
Every year, scores of Ethiopians are detained in eastern and southern African countries located on the route from Ethiopia to South Africa.
Human traffickers reportedly use countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as transit points to smuggle Ethiopians to South Africa.
