"Forty-eight of our compatriots lost their lives in the Mediterranean on Sunday, January 7," said a foreign ministry statement issued late Wednesday. Sixty-nine people escaped with their lives, including four children, and were identified on Monday in Libya by an embassy delegation, the statement added. They will be sent back to Mali "as quickly as possible", it said. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced 24 hours of national mourning and collective prayers on Friday for the victims, and ordered an investigation into the people smugglers responsible for transporting the migrants to Libya. The foreign ministry urged parents to educate young people on the risks of irregular migration, a phenomenon across Africa that has taken the lives of thousands and pushed many more into modern-day slavery and long spells in detention centres in Libya.
"Forty-eight of our compatriots lost their lives in the Mediterranean on Sunday, January 7," said a foreign ministry statement issued late Wednesday. Sixty-nine people escaped with their lives, including four children, and were identified on Monday in Libya by an embassy delegation, the statement added. They will be sent back to Mali "as quickly as possible", it said. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced 24 hours of national mourning and collective prayers on Friday for the victims, and ordered an investigation into the people smugglers responsible for transporting the migrants to Libya. The foreign ministry urged parents to educate young people on the risks of irregular migration, a phenomenon across Africa that has taken the lives of thousands and pushed many more into modern-day slavery and long spells in detention centres in Libya.