Following the horrific finding of a tomb holding the remains of 25 men thought to be Ethiopian migrants, Malawi discovered four more dead on Thursday, according to the police.
The most recent discoveries, which brought the total to 29 so far, were made at four different sites around two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the mass burial.
The victims are thought to be migrants who were en route to South Africa, which has the most industrialized economy on the continent and attracts low-wage labor from other parts of the continent.
According to the International Organization for Migration, “Malawi is a country of transit for migrants from the Horn of Africa traveling along what is known as the Southern Route from as far north as Ethiopia in an attempt to reach South Africa in search of job” (IOM).
In a statement, it said that the most recent tragedy demonstrated the “urgent necessity” to address the difficulties associated with irregular migration.
The IOM warned that irregular migration over the Southern Route, which is made possible by a sophisticated web of traffickers and smugglers, is dangerous.
Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya told AFP that while searching the area, investigators discovered the four remains.
While gathering wild honey in a forest earlier this week, villagers in the northern part of Mzimba, roughly 250 kilometers north of the nation’s capital Lilongwe, stumbled into the mass burial.
According to police, evidence recovered from the scene on Wednesday showed that the 25 deceased were male Ethiopians between the ages of 25 and 40.
Kalaya reported that 186 of the 221 illegal immigrants detained by authorities between January and September this year were Ethiopian.
