LUSAKA, Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, on Sunday discovered 27 dead bodies of suspected foreigners dumped by unknown people.
The bodies of suspected Ethiopians were discovered in the early hours of Sunday in the Ngwerere area on the outskirts of the Zambian capital after the police were alerted by members of the public.
Danny Mwale, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, said in a statement that police have since launched an investigation into the matter while all the 27 bodies have been deposited in the mortuary at the University Teaching Hospital.
The police spokesperson added that apart from the 27 dead bodies, one surviving foreigner was found gasping for life and is currently receiving medical attention at the hospital. The statement did not provide further details regarding the incident.
“Our preliminary investigations indicate that a total number of 28 persons, all males aged between 20 and 38 years, were dumped at Meanwood Nkhosi along Chiminuka road by unknown persons,” Lusaka Police added in a statement.
Based on the documents they were carrying, it is believed that the migrants were coming from Ethiopia and were passing through Zambian territory, as a stopover on a very common journey for people mostly from the Horn of Africa to South Africa.
The bodies have been transferred to the morgue of the University of Zambia Teaching Hospital.
In October, in neighboring Malawi, authorities discovered 25 bodies of Ethiopian immigrants in a mass grave. The Malawian Police made it known at the time that they had evidence to link the stepson of the former president, Peter Mutharika, to this crime.
Zambia, with its 18 million inhabitants, has been fighting illegal human trafficking for years. According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Zambia has taken in more than 105,000 refugees from neighboring countries such as Congo, Burundi, Angola and Rwanda.
In regional terms, the country is considered fairly stable politically. In 2021, Zambia experienced a peaceful transition of power, but faces many challenges, such as widespread poverty, malnutrition and the consequences of climate change. At the end of 2020, Zambia had to declare insolvency to its international creditors. — NNN-AGENCIES
