Maputo, March 24 (RHC)-- More than 60 people have been found dead in a cargo container in Mozambique's northwest Tete province, according to reports.   The cause of the deaths is suspected to be asphyxiation, a senior hospital official, who asked not be named because he does not have the authority to speak to the media, told AFP news agency on Tuesday.

"A truck transporting illegal immigrants from Malawi, suspected to be Ethiopians, was stopped at the Mussacana weight bridge in Tete, and 64 people were found dead," the official said.  "Only 14 survived."

The victims were discovered in a blue cargo container loaded on to a haulage truck, according to pictures seen by AFP.  

Mozambique is generally seen as a smuggling corridor for migrants seeking to make their way to South Africa.

South Africa, the continent's most industrialised country, is a magnet for poor migrants not only from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho and Zimbabwe but also from nations further afield, such as Ethiopia.