Seven Egyptian corpses recognized in Libya’s desert

CAIRO – 10 July 2017: Only seven Egyptians’ corpses were identified out of 19 Egyptian corpses found in the Libyan Desert, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed in a statement on Saturday.

The 48 Egyptian illegal immigrants were found dead in the Libyan Desert, in eastern Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent in Tobruk announced.

It also said that it appears that those Egyptians were trying to enter Libya illegally and then died on their way in the Libyan Desert.

“We have found their IDs and passports with them, and all of them were from Egypt.” The Libyan Red Crescent announced.

The Red Crescent further said only 19 bodies were transferred while 29 others were still dumped in the desert. Most of them were from Assiut and Minya, areas on the River Nile south of Cairo, and from Kafr el Sheikh, in the Nile Delta north of Cairo.

The death of the 48 is believed to be due to thirst or the effect of the desert elements. The corpses were found in a rotten state indicating that their deaths took place only a few days before, according to the Libyan Red Crescent.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that they will coordinate with the Libyan authorities to verify the know the truth about the incident.

They were found on Saturday more than 400 km (250 miles) south of Tobruk, in the Jaghboub desert. Seven of the migrants were identified from papers or identity cards, and the rest were thought to be Egyptian judging by their appearance, a Red Crescent spokesman said on Sunday.