They were travelling in a secret compartment in a lorry that was taking them to Tripoli, when the vehicle had an accident, causing the bricks , cement and steel used to conceal them to collapse on top of them.
The accident took place in the near Wadi Kaum area , some 90 kilometres outside of Tripoli when the truck left the road and overturned.
Among the deceased were 17 young people from Somaliland who intended to reach Europe through Libya.
It is understood that the driver of the lorry fled the scene and that security forces are currently trying to find him to investigate the incident.
Despite alarming boat incidents and hardship in the desert, many Somalis continue to venture into Libya, hoping to reach Europe, particularly Italy. They often dangerously sail in overcrowded tiny boats.
Following are photos of some of the deceased released to the press:
Illaahay ha u naxariisto. Why do Somali media sites publish pictures of the corpses? I fid this so disrespectful. I asked this question and never get an answer.
ReplyDeleteThis is to discourage the youth from venturing into the unknown dangers in the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea to reach Europe ....
DeleteI see...there must be another way. A national campaign of some sort where these sorts of images could be shared with them in a more private settings rather than plastering these images all over the worldwide web and newspapers ...I wonder how many of those who need to be discouraged actually see them???
DeleteI am sure many young Somalis have seen these photos through the local Somali websites and have now realised the dangers involving in leaving their country for better living conditions. Sadly , local authorities are very much occupied in power struggle , political haggling and personal gains and have ,therefore, neglected these young people in the streets of the main cities of the country without jobs or activities to take them off the streets . A sense of nationalism is lacking here and I think there will be many more young Somalis that will die in the high-seas and the Arabian desert in search of better life....
DeleteThat is a sad statement ... Our youth are our treasure and I wish more would be done by the so called government...there is nothing worth loosing life over..certainly not coming put to the diaspora ...thanks for explaining the motives behind the pictures . The Somalis in the diaspora have seen the downfall of our youth due to loss of identity, gangs, drugs, alcohol , isolation, Racism, mental illness , loss if culture and family ties. There is no gold at the end of the rainbow for many but that is hard to explain to those who are back home. I hope and pray times change and through public awareness and government action, we will see less if these grotesque pictures of our dead brothers and sisters.
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