A migrant from Ivory Coast has been arrested in connection with the murder of fellow Ivorian Adam Dabete.

Mr Dabete, a resident at the tent village in Ħal Far, an immigrant centre, was found on Sunday buried in the foetal position under a carob tree in a field opposite a hangar at Ħal Far, which also houses immigrants.

Sources said only his toes were exposed and he was discovered by other migrants who spotted traces of blood along the road leading to the field.

Initial investigations indicate Mr Dabete was hit on the head, probably with a stone, sometime on Saturday.

The motive for the murder is still unclear but police sources said they had "strong suspicions" the man they were holding was responsible for Mr Dabete's death and burial.

They said he was likely to be arraigned as soon as forensic tests proved the suspicions well-founded.

Yesterday, the shock and tension were palpable around the open centres although many migrants preferred not to talk to the press.

Huddled over a gas stove inside Tent 21, where Mr Dabete lived, his roommates discussed the grim discovery as they cooked lunch just inches from where he slept.

His top bunk bed was empty and his belongings packed in a small purple suitcase.

Mr Dabete, 30, was described as a "good, peaceful and very kind" man who kept to himself most of the time and had never been involved in a fight.

A Gambian man who described Mr Dabete as his "best friend" said they got along mainly because they resided in nearby tents and spoke a similar native language.

Besides that language, Mr Dabete spoke French which made it difficult for him to communicate with most of the other migrants who speak English.

"My first thought was that this was done by a white man... a Maltese," he said, since Mr Dabete was never involved in a fight with someone else from the centre.

"But about 75 per cent of the people here suspect it was another African who killed him. I don't know. I just know him as my very kind neighbour."

As he watched policemen walking around the crime scene, a young Malian resident of the hangar remembered Mr Dabete from their time at the Safi detention centre in 2008.

He said Mr Dabete was hardworking and a practising Muslim who never drank or smoke.

Another man, from Somalia, could not believe such an incident had happened so close to where he slept.

"I couldn't sleep last night. I kept thinking, how could this happen here," he said from behind the chicken wire mesh surrounding the hangar.

While scuffles were common around the centres, he said, no one had expected a crime like this to happen.

"He was killed and buried," the Somali said in disbelief.

On Sunday night, when the body was discovered, hundreds of migrants lined up behind police lines, to see what was going on.

But yesterday many of them returned to their daily routine of trying to find work.