Bodies of migrants recovered in Libya, authorities say

The bodies of at least 28 migrants have been recovered from a massive tomb in a desert in southeastern Libya, said the country’s attorney general.

The grave was discovered north of Kufra, a few days after another mass tomb was found with 19 bodies in a farm in the same city.

The authorities found the last grave after a raid at a site of trafficking in persons, where the authorities released 76 migrants who had been arrested and tortured, the prosecutor’s office published on Facebook.

One Libyan and two foreigners added, he added.

“There was a gang whose members deliberately deprived the illegal migrants of their freedom, tortured them and submitted them to a cruel, humiliating and inhuman treatment,” said the statement.

Shared images online, which the BBC has not verified independently, show the police and the volunteers digging in the sand before placing corpses in black bags.

The search in Kufra, more than 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) of the capital of Libya, Tripoli, continues.

The attorney general says that the recovered bodies have been taken for autopsy, and investigators suspect links to contraband networks. The authorities are documenting the testimonies of the survivors.

Last year, a Serious mass containing the bodies of at least 65 migrants It was found in southwest Libya. The International Organization for Migration (IIM) described it as “deeply shocking” at that time.

Since the overthrow of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, the country has become a key traffic route for migrants risking the dangerous desert and mediterranean sea crossings to reach Europe.

UNICEF has said That in 2024 the number of people who died or disappeared in the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe, exceeded 2,200.