TRIPOLI, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Libya’s security authorities recovered the bodies of at least six migrants in the southeast of the country after their vehicle broke down in the desert, the Alwahat Security Directorate said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Directorate said the bodies were recovered in a desert area about 200 km (124 miles) northwest of the town of Jalu.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean since the toppling of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
Two bodies were found inside the broken-down vehicle, three more were found about four km (2.5 miles) away from the vehicle, and one body was found about 10 km (six miles) away, after tracking their footprints, the Directorate said.
According to the vehicle documents, its owner was from Chad, the Directorate said.
It added that in the same incident 19 migrants were rescued on Sunday, although it did not say where they were rescued.
According to the brother of the vehicle’s owner, who was one of the 19 rescued migrants, there was another vehicle with them that took the fuel from the broken-down vehicle and continued the journey, the Directorate said.
Pictures that the Directorate posted showed security staff accompanied by members of the Fifth Battalion of the 129th Brigade recovering the bodies in a desert area and placing them in black plastic bags.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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