Tanzania:
Migrants die in truck
Some 42 migrants have been found dead in the
back of a truck in Tanzania.
Tanzania's Deputy Interior Minister Pereira
Silima said they had come from Ethiopia and died from asphyxiation.
Local officials said more than 120 people
had been packed into the truck, which was headed for Malawi.
Tanzania and Malawi have become key staging
posts for people fleeing drought and conflict in Somalia and Ethiopia, and
trying to reach South Africa.
'Dumped the dead'
Mr Silima said that according to survivor
accounts, the 127 migrants had started off from Ethiopia in two trucks.
They passed through Kenya's capital,
Nairobi, and onto the Tanzania town of Arusha where they were transferred into
one lorry, he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
The driver noticed there were problems in
the central Dodoma region and stopped the vehicle.
"When he found out that at least 41
were dead, he released the survivors and dumped the dead in the bush," the
minister said.
The container truck then drove off and the
authorities are trying to trace it and the driver, he said.
Nearby villagers helped the survivors, one
of whom later died.
Mr Silima said when the migrants were well
enough, they would be taken to court and their embassy would be contacted.
Last week, at least 47 East African migrants
drowned when their boat capsized on Lake Malawi after sailing from Tanzania.
Source: BBC News
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