The dead bodies of eight Sudanese family members have been found in the Libyan desert with 13 others still missing after their car broke down, and they ended up dying of starvation and thirst.

Images of the tragedy show the relatives’ dead bodies, along with their belongings, strewn around the vehicle, some of them already partially buried by the sand.

According to local media, 21 people were journeying onboard the Toyota Sequoia when it broke down in a tranche of the desert 400 kilometres (249 mi) south-west of the Libyan oasis town of Kufra.

The dead bodies of five men and three women were found by the car, and the remaining passengers, reportedly including children, are believed to still be missing in the desert.

An investigation by the Libyan police concluded that the family left the city of Al-Fashir in Sudan in August last year and were believed to be headed to Kufra, which is a transit point on one of the migrant routes to the Libyan coast.

The vehicle was found early last week, some six months after the group’s departure, with a handwritten note inside penned by one of the family members named as Muzna Saifuddin Hasan.

Part of her moving letter, in which she appears to be aware of her impending fate, read: “Forgive me, my mother, for not having reached you.”

The investigation into the incident is ongoing and includes attempting to locate the other 13 people presumed missing in the desert.

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