Ethiopia’s government will investigate the reported deaths of 27 of its citizens found in a farming area on the outskirts of Lusaka, Ethiopia’s state news agency said on Monday.
Zambian police said preliminary investigations showed the victims were all men aged between 20 and 38, whose bodies had been dumped along a road by unknown people.
A sole survivor was found alive in the early hours of Sunday morning and rushed to a Lusaka hospital for treatment, police said.
According to the statement, the Government of Ethiopia expressed its deepest sorrow over the tragedy and it is collaborating with the Government of Zambia to send experts to the area to confirm the identities of the citizens who allegedly lost their lives while attempting to cross into South Africa illegally.
It further says investigation into the circumstances surrounding those who passed away in Malawi earlier this year is being conducted by a team led by the ministry of foreign affairs.
It said the incident demonstrates the continued need for coordinated efforts from citizens and relevant Government agencies to reduce the harm that human trafficking causes to citizens.
Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration says it has set up a joint investigations team to investigate the death of the 27 foreign nationals who were discovered dumped on a road in Meanwood Khosi area on Sunday.
Immigration Public Relations Officer Namati Nshinka says the team includes officers from the immigration department, Zambia police and others.
Mr. Nshinka told ZNBC news that the foreign national who was found alive and rushed to the hospital is in a stable condition and responding well to treatment.
Mr. Nshinka added that the identities of all the deceased and the survivor are yet to be established.
And Deputy Police Spokesperson Danny Mwale said investigations have intensified into matter involving the twenty-Seven bodies that were dumped in Lusaka’s Meanwood Nkosi Area.
Some residents of Lusaka’s Meanwood Nkosi Area are shunning to use the road where the 27 bodies of suspected foreign nationals were dumped.
A Check by ZNBC News in the area found the road is empty and residents are using alternative routes.
Meanwhile the road still has some of the belongings for the deceased foreign nationals scattered on the road.
The 27 bodies were discovered on Sunday and police suspect the were dumped on the road after suffering suffocation.
One person was however found gasping for breath and was rushed to the hospital.
Rig some more cameras so you can monitor such things. That is what technology is for! A mambala. I know, I know, there will be conspiracy theories and stuff but for all your sake do it among other measures. This should not happen again. We are not Europeans who say never again and then send a barrage of rubbish to do it again,
Such tragedies have become common in Southern Africa. Trucks from Ethiopia and Somalia go through Malawi, Zambia Mozambique and Zimbabwe en-route to South Africa. SADC needs to show its a working organisation and formulate a strategyto stop these deaths from trafficking
What is Ethiopia’s government going to investigate…its people run away from there to seek a so called better life in RSA, Zambia is just a stop over or transit point it by luck that these people are caught…our prisons are overcrowded by them just send them back that is what Ethiopia’s government should come to do in Zambia collecting their people.
Hey They are dead. Are you reading the story?
CORRUPTION IS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THIS. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO KNEW AND PROFITTED FROM THIS SCHEME I WONDER HOW THEIR CONSCIENCE IS NOW THAT THE MONEY THEY RECEIVED TO PAY A BLIND EYE AND ALLOW THIS SCURGE TO GO UNDETECTED HAS NOW TURNED TO BLOOD MONEY. EVEN FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DIED HOW THEY COULDNT CALL FOR HELP WHILE LIFE WAS BEING SUCKED FROM THEM ONE AT A TIME IS REALLY MIND BOGGLING. THE SURVIVOR IF OK SHOULD PROVIDE A CLUE ABOUT WHAT REALLY TRANSPIRED. DID A DEAL GO WRONG AND SOMEONE OUT OF FEAR OF BEING CAUGHT DECIDED TO POISON OR END THE LIVES OF HIS BAGGAGE? BECAUSE WHAT LOGICAL VIEW CAN THERE BE WHEN 30 GROWN MEN CAN’T STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES TO FIGHT FOR THEIR MONEY’S WORTH UNLESS THEY WERE DUPED BY ONE THEY TRUSTED.
@Tarino Orange. Agree with you. Ethiopia must also stop its war against Tigray and make home conditions better for everybody than is currently the case. I recall the WHO Director General who is from Tigray almost shedding tears when he recounted events in his home province at a press briefing. This applies to all African countries including Zambia so that the likes of Tarino can come back early also …
There’s no country on earth that will let go of its borders without a fight. Its not Ethiopia only who should be advised to let go. The Tigrayans must also let go of their demands
What is there to investigate? These are upnd sacrifices. Fuseke
Sad. Brought about by callous human traffickers. But, how did the unlawful transportation of humans in a windowless vehicle, get clearance to enter Zambia? Don’t Border officials check trucks to verify cargo?
It just means our border staff were either sleeping or were bribed. The latter is more possible given our corruption in Zambia
The Ethiopian government offering to help with investigations is fine, but they must take some blame for the tragedy. Their concern for their citizens comes too late for the deceased. The very fact this many people are taking perilous journeys to get away, suggests life in Ethiopia is intolerable. Serious investigations to uncover reasons people are leaving in droves – should have commenced before a tragedy happened. Sort things at home and people won’t feel compelled to leave.
Easier said than done. Just go and ask where the immigrants at the US border with Mexico are from. Certainly not from Mexico
How can a failed government undertake such a task? Ethiopia is an embarrassment. Ethiopians are dying everyday in very shameful circumstances almost everywhere. It’s even worse in the middle East where Arabs and Jews treat them like animals. Early this year more than 20 were dumped near Nakonde, 35 were recently discovered buried in Malawi and if indeed Ethiopia weren’t a failed state why didn’t take interest in those deaths? In the same way that Somalians were fleeing their country not long ago, so are Ethiopians doing now. You might deny it and suppress info but you can’t hide the reality. The number of people that flee your country tells a lot about you. How many Zimbabweans are in neighboring countries?
Why are you so quick to condemn? Black phonies love to repeat cliched European criticism of Africa without thinking about a situation. Ethiopia is trying to recover from authoritarian rule by a monarch, then a military coup; Africa’s biggest cause of turmoil. As Ethiopia was beginning a civil war Somalia’s war was also starting.
One of Ethiopia’s Presidents fled to Southern Africa early in the 90s as a war brewed in Tigray and Eritrea. What Zambians have to learn from that is that peace is the best commodity to preserve. Ethiopia has been struggling to recover from the coup on Haile Selassie. And that shows you a coup never solves anything.
#8.1, How long have Somalians been fighting and what’s been the cause? Tribalism. Each warlord wants his tribe to be at the top. A northern isn’t fairly treated in the south and vice versa yet they want us to accept them when can’t accept themselves. They want us to give them rights they’ve failed to give themselves. Even their ambassador doesn’t know which government he represents. What’s the reason for the war in Ethiopia? You can’t damage your own country and expect others to respect you. Just go back and build your country
Zennia(6) The main route for contraband with minimal detection is under the main electricity pylonsrunning from Livingstone to the Copperbelt.ZESCO clears this’road’annually to protect the power lines supplying power to the mines.It is the perfect means of avoiding roadblocks and re-supply by villages established along the entire route of the pylons.Contraband can enter and leave this lane at any point.Only drones can help stop this inhumanity
Somalia is developing at a very fast pace with many new buildings and infrastructure being put up in Mogadishu that you wouldn’t believe. Somalis are amongst some of the main African investors in Zambia in the transport and food processing sectors. Ethiopia has mega infrastructure projects bigger than any other African country today. Both these nations lack in one area and that is govt leadership towards the plight of their youth. Jobs are low paying in both countries and there is the issue of compulsory military service which often leads these chaps to run away. Some of these chaps may not even be from Ethiopia or Somalia but from Eritrea. Let’s take care of our brothers, why should people be Ina position where they die even if they are being smuggled??? May God judge harshly on those…