* Dozens of Somalis were crammed in container
* Bodies dumped on the road
* Tanzania a transit route for human trafficking
DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Twenty illegal Somali
migrants suffocated to death as they were being smuggled in a
cramped container truck through Tanzania, their bodies dumped on
the road, police said on Wednesday.
The bodies of the 17 men and three women were dumped at
various areas in the Morogoro region, some 200 km (125 miles)
west of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, regional police
commander Adolphina Chialo said.
They were found between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, she added.
Tanzania serves as a transit route for human trafficking,
mostly of Somali and Ethiopian nationals, to South Africa and
Europe. Somalia has been engulfed in conflict for the past two
decades, with hundreds of thousands fleeing the violence.
“Based on our preliminary investigations, the Somalis died
from lack of air and very hot conditions inside the metal,
20-square-foot (1.8 square-metre) container,” Chialo told
Reuters by telephone.
“The human traffickers dumped the bodies one by one after
they had suffocated inside the container as the truck was
heading towards the border between Tanzania and Zambia,” she
said.
Continued…
