Thursday 26 / December / 2024
Libyan rescue services have recovered the bodies of 20 people in the desert near the border with Chad. The deceased were believed to have been migrants and were found around a black pickup truck about 200 miles southwest of Kufra, according to the district ambulance service.
Migrants 'died of thirst'
Rescue services said they "recovered 20 bodies found in the desert after their vehicle broke down." In a statement, the service said the vehicle traveled from Chad and was about 120 kilometres inside Libyan territory. "They all died of thirst," the statement said of the people in the truck.
The bodies were discovered by a truck driver who had been traveling through the desert.
"The driver got lost ... and we believe the group died in the desert about 14 days ago since the last call on a mobile phone there was on June 13," Kufra ambulance chief Ibrahim Belhasan told the Reuters news agency by phone.
Thirty missing after rubber dinghy sinks
In a separate incident that took place off the coast of Libya, a rubber dinghy sank with 30 people on board, including women and children.
On Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders, also known by the French initials MSF, reported that the vessel went down on the perilous central Mediterranean Sea route.
A rescue ship operated by the organization managed to reach the stricken boat, and dozens of people were rescued. Five women and eight children are among the missing people, and are presumed dead.
