The body of a 30-year-old man from Ivory Coast, found in Hal Far on Sunday evening, was discovered by friends who noticed a pool of blood and they followed the blood traces until they found the corpse partially buried under a carob tree in a field in Triq tal-Gebel at about 5.30pm.

The immigrant, Adam Dabete, was a resident at the Hal Far open centre. Reports said friends noticed part of the migrant’s right foot coming out of the soil where the body was buried.

They told the open centre authorities about their grim discovery and soon after, a crowd gathered around the corpse, which was later identified by two migrants.

According to unofficial reports, whoever killed Mr Dabete used a hard object to hit him in the head, and the way the body was found shows that he was buried in a rush, possibly because of the farmhouses in the vicinity. It is obviously being considered as a case of murder. The police are investigating.