A total of 18 Somali nationals have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo after traveling from neighbouring
Zambia in a container truck packed with fish, in an apparent case of human
trafficking gone wrong, Zambian police say.
The Truck registered AFB 496 from Kasama was carrying over 50
Somalians suspected to be trafficked from Tanzania.The final destination
of the victims is unclear at this stage. The photos are so sad! *viewer discretion advised*
At the scene, 20 Km from Levy Mwanawasa Bridge in Chembe, bodies were
found strewn on the ground and over 30 survivors narrated that they
were transferred from another truck and were picked from Kasama but the
new truck had no ventilation which made their colleagues suffocate to
death. The driver is detained by Police on the Congo side.
Hudson Namachila, the Luapula province police commissioner, said 11
suffocated to death in the truck while another seven later died after
the authorities in DR Congo rejected help from Zambia.
In Chembe, bodies were found strewn on
the ground and over 30 survivors narrated that they were transferred
from another truck and were picked from Kasama but the new truck had no
ventilation which made their colleagues suffocate to death.
Speaking to BBC’s Kennedy Gondwe in
Lusaka, Mr Namachila said that DR Congo had now shut the border with
Zambia and had arrested the two Zambian drivers and the Somalis who had
survived the journey
0 comments:
Post a Comment