By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Bodies of at least seven Sudanese migrants were found on Friday in the Libyan desert after they were stranded for days.
An official of the ambulance service agency said the migrants were stranded after the vehicle they were travelling in broke down.
The car was carrying 34 Sudanese when it broke down shortly after crossing Libya’s border from Chad, into a deserted area often used by smugglers, Ebrahim Belhassan, Director of the Kufra Ambulance and Emergency Services, told The Associated Press.
They were discovered in the sand dunes after 11 days, having run out of food and water, he said.
“The survivors were almost about to die. They are severely dehydrated and exhibiting signs of distress and trauma, with such circumstances, and given that they’re seeing those around them dying and they know if they will die next,” he said. The 22 rescued, including five children, were transferred to Kufra for further medical check-ups.
Five people are missing, but Belhassan said hopes were slim they would survive on foot in a vast desert.
A smuggler who found them alerted emergency workers, Belhassan said.
Libya, which shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, is a main transit point for migrants seeking better lives in Europe.
The International Organization for Migration estimates approximately 787,000 migrants and refugees from various nationalities lived in Libya as of 2024.
