The Foreign Ministry has released the list of victims who were either killed or injured by human traffickers in Libya.
Twenty-three of the 26 deceased are Sujon and Kamrul from Gopalganj; Zakir Hossain, Juwel, and Firoj from Madaripur; Juwel and Manik from Rajoir in Madaripur; Asadul, Aynal Mollah, and Monir from Tekerhat; Sajib and Sahin from Ishibpur in Madaripur; Shamim from Dudhkhali in Madaripur; Arfan from Dhaka; Lal Chand from Narayanpur of Binodpur at Maheshpur in Tangail; Rajon, Shakil, Sohag, and Sakib from Bhairab in Kishoreganj; Akash and Md Ali from Rasulpur; Rahim from Hossainpur; and Rakibul from Jessore.
The 12 injured are Firoj Bepari from Tir Bagdi village in Madaripur Sadar; Md Sajid from Dulkandi village of Vanga upazila in Faridpur; Md Janu Miah from Shambhapur village of Bhairab upazila in Kishoreganj; Md Sajal Miah from Jagannathpur village of Bhairab upazila; Omor Sheikh from Mukhudpur of Gopalganj; Md Tarikul Islam, 22, from Narayanpur of Binodpur at Maheshpur in Tangail; Md Ali, 22, from Kadambari village of Rajoir in Madaripur; Sohag Ahmed, 20, from Shakhipur of Bhairab in Kishoreganj; Md Bokul Hossain, 30, from Khejurtala of Belgachi at Alamdanga in Chuadanga; Md Samrat Khalashi, 29, from Ishibpur of Rajoir in Madaripur; Bappi Mia from Chuadanga; and Syedul Islam, from Madaripur.
The injured are now undergoing treatment at Tripoli Medical Centre in the Libyan capital.
Also read: Libya killings: Dhaka demands compensation, punishment of killers
A murdered Libyan smuggler’s family killed 30 migrants — 24 Bangladeshis and six Africans — in the town of Mezdah, some 150 kilometres south of the North African country's capital Tripoli on Thursday.
Citing a survivor, the foreign ministry said that the slain migrants had been abducted while crossing the country in search of work and then tortured to extract a ransom.
The migrants had been crossing the desert from Benghazi in search of work when they were taken hostage by an armed group near Mizda 15 days ago, the ministry cited the survivor as saying.
“They tortured them inhumanely for a ransom. At some point in their ordeal, the captives killed the main kidnapper. In retaliation, the militia fired indiscriminately at them,” says the statement.
Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Thursday it had issued arrest warrants for suspects in the killings, Reuters reported.
Also read: Before the killings, Bangladeshis were taken hostage on their way to Tripoli
GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said authorities were doing all they could to find the perpetrators. A local official in Mizda, speaking anonymously, said security forces there had not detained them because they had lost a family member.
Mizda is under the control of eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA) but not far from areas held by the GNA.
The International Organisation for Migration, a United Nations agency, said the incident took place in a smuggling warehouse where a group of migrants was being held.
“These criminal groups are taking advantage of the instability and security situation to prey on desperate people,” said IOM Libya chief Federico Soda.
Libya is home to a large number of migrants, including some who came to work in the major oil-exporting nation before its descent into civil war, and others hoping to use it as a way station on the journey to Europe.