Tragic End: 4 Moroccan Migrants Found Dead in Paraguay Fertilizer Container

"The bodies are decomposed, only hair and bones remain," said the prosecutor in charge of the case, Marcelo Saldivar, on October 24, according to Libération.fr, noting that, according to the medical examiner, one body showed signs of asphyxiation. The seven migrants are said to have died from both lack of oxygen and fertilizer fumes. In addition, the chemicals would have accelerated decomposition, the same source said.

The belongings found near the bodies allowed the identification of four Moroccans, two Algerians and one Egyptian. The container, which had taken the route to Croatia where they were heading, before going to Italy, had been loaded onto a cargo ship before the migrants had time to get out. The ship then traveled more than 16,000 kilometers, from Serbia to Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. Two individuals, including a Moroccan and an Algerian, suspected of having helped the migrants enter the container on July 21 in Serbia, were arrested last week in Serbia, the police said.

Currently, there are nearly 6,000 migrants stranded in Serbia due to the increasingly difficult possibilities of reaching a European country.