The Egyptian Embassy to Libya, currently based in Cairo, has identified nine out of the 13 Egyptians who were killed last week in the Libyan city of Beni Walid in a clash with human traffickers, the foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abou Zaid said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Libyan authorities moved the Egyptians’ bodies to Tripoli and identified them as Abd El-Rahman Rashad Karam, Hossam Khalil Abd Al-Mageed, Taha Ahmed Mohammed, Mohammad Ahmed Ali Mohammad, Mohammad Ahmad Khalil, Amr Ahmed Khalil, Mohammad Tawfik Mohammad, Khalil Mohammad Mo’men, and Saber Hassan Ali.
Their bodies will be repatriated to Egypt as soon as possible, the statement read.
Egyptian prosecutor-general Ahmed Sadek demanded an investigation into the killing of the Egyptian citizens in Beni Walid, according to an official statement released on Saturday.
Thirteen Egyptians were killed and one injured in the incident, in addition to seven others who are currently being interrogated by the Libyan authorities, according to the statement.
The Egyptians entered Libya along with 11 Syrians and two Somalis as illegal immigrants.
Sadek also ordered the International Cooperation Unit to prepare a memo to be sent to the Libyan prosecution demanding a copy of the current investigations.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said last week that it is investigating the possibility that 16 Egyptians were killed in Beni Walid, a ministry source told Daily News Egypt.
The Egyptians were purportedly killed after a dispute erupted between them and human traffickers, according to several reports circulated by Egyptian media outlets.
The seven Egyptian survivors are still being interrogated over the incident in Libya.
The Social Council of Werfalla tribes, who live in the city of Beni Walid, released a statement earlier affirming that it will do its best to enforce the law. The council also condemned the human trafficking in the city.
Libya is currently going through political unrest due to the spread of militants since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
Despite the unrest in Libya, some Egyptians are still working there due to the lack of sufficient jobs in the Egyptian market.
Last January, 20 Egyptians were freed after being abducted in Libya in December.
In 2015, 21 Coptic Egyptians were beheaded by members of the Islamic State (IS) in Libya, following which Egyptian air forces carried out raids on IS targets in the neighbouring country.
