By Daisy Okanga | More than 60 people who are believed to be migrants from Ethiopia were found dead in a cargo container in Mozambique’s northwest Tete province, according to the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) report.
The Truck en route from Malawi on Tuesday morning in the province of Tete, Mozambique was intercepted by the police upon realization of the dead bodies.
Tete migration services officers said the officials checked the container and found 14 people alive among the bodies of 64 who had died from suspected asphyxiation.
In a statement released on Tuesday, IOM confirmed that 14 survivors were rescued by local authorities and are being treated at a local hospital.
IOM said the survivors were being treated for severe dehydration and exhaustion.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Addis Ababa, it had confirmed through the Ethiopian embassy in South Africa that many Ethiopians travelling inside a vehicle from Malawi to Mozambique had died.
Mozambique has for many years noted to be a smuggling tunnel for migrants seeking to make their way to South Africa.
South Africa is Africa’s largest economy after Nigeria and has attracted many poor migrants from Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
