The police in Zambia have discovered the bodies of 27 persons suspected to be Ethiopian migrants who are “dead from hunger and exhaustion” in a northern district of the capital Lusaka.
The victims are “all men aged between 20 and 38,” the police said in a statement.
The bodies were taken to the morgue for identification and autopsy and an investigation has been opened.
The alert was given at dawn, around 04:00 GMT, by residents who discovered the bodies.
Once on the spot, the police found a person still alive and “panting” among the bodies thrown along a road. She was rushed to the hospital.
“All 27 probably died of starvation and exhaustion,” police said.
Zambia is a transit point for East African migrants wishing to illegally travel to South Africa, the most industrialized African country that acts as a magnet for the poorest people on the rest of the continent.
In October, the remains of 30 suspected Ethiopian migrants were found in neighbouring Malawi.
