Truck packed with over 300 African migrants crashes in Libya, leaving 23 dead and 124 injured

More than 23 illegal African migrants were killed and 124 injured after a truck smuggling them to Libyan town of Bani Walid crashed on Wednesday.

The Spokesman of the Bani Walid hospital,  Mohamed al-Mabrouk said the truck had flipped over about 80 km (50 miles) south of Bani Walid. At least 124 people had been injured, eight of them seriously, he said.

“124 migrants were wounded, 35 of whom need urgent transfer to Tripoli hospitals, while 7 others need extensive care, yet the rest are in stable conditions.” Libyan News Agency reported the Bani Walid General Director, Mohammed Al-Mabrouk, as saying.

“We did not receive the driver (at the hospital), and we don’t know what has happened to him,” said Mabrouk. “Most likely he’s survived otherwise he would be brought here.” he added.

Al-Mabrouk urged the Ministry of Health to help Bani Walid Hospital and provide the needed medicines as it is undergoing acute shortages, let alone inadequate accommodation capacity as it has only 120 beds.

Among the victims were Somali and Eritrean nationals, said a military source, who put the death toll at 25.

Bani Walid, located south of Tripoli, is a hub for smugglers who bring migrants by road from neighboring countries up toward Libya’s Mediterranean coast.

They are often held and transported in brutal conditions, passed between smugglers who take payments for different stages of the journey and extort money from migrants.