20 found dead in Libya desert after vehicle breakdown: rescuers

• The vehicle had come from neighboring Chad and reached some 120 kilometers (75 miles) into Libyan territory.
• Libya’s southern borders with Chad, Niger, and Sudan have become notorious for people smuggling.
• The sparsely populated region regularly sees summer temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Twenty people were discovered dead in the desert in Libya following a vehicle breakdown near the border with Chad, with rescuers assuming they died of thirst.

A team “recovered 20 bodies found in the desert after their vehicle broke down,” according to rescue services in Kufra’s southeastern region.

The vehicle had come from neighboring Chad and reached some 120 kilometers (75 miles) into Libyan territory before breaking down, the statement added.

Also Read

Libyan rivals hold UN-led election negotiate

Talks focus on a constitutional framework for elections after Libya's various groups...

“They all died of thirst,” it said.

The service published a video on Facebook showing decomposing bodies in the desert sand near a pick-up truck.

The sparsely populated region regularly sees summer temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, Libya descended into lawlessness, and its southern borders with Chad, Niger, and Sudan have become notorious for people trafficking and smuggling.

Thousands of people cross them each year in an attempt to reach the Mediterranean coast and, eventually, Europe, but many perish along the way, including in the harsh Sahara desert.

Also Read

UN says Libyan rivals fail in election talks

Libya's east-based parliament and High Council of State concluded their final round...