At least 49 people have died of thirst in a remote part of the Sahara desert in northern Niger after the truck carrying them broke down

“The travelers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult,” Governor of Agadez region

Group were returning from Mali, where they had attended celebrations for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha

The group ran out of water, stranded more than 50 miles west of Assamaka, a major border crossing point between Niger and Algeria

Only two people survived after walking more than 31 miles on foot to a water source, before proceeding to Assamaka, where they alerted authorities

The 49 victims, all Nigerien, were buried in mass graves by the rescue team dispatched to the area by authorities from the Agadez governorate

49 people have died of thirst in a remote part of the Sahara desert in northern Niger after the truck carrying them broke down, the authorities say.
The group were returning from Mali, where they had attended celebrations for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when they ran out of water, stranded more than 50 miles west of Assamaka, a major border crossing point between Niger and Algeria.
“The travelers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult,” said General Ibra Boulama Issa, the governor of Niger’s Agadez region.
Two people managed to survive after walking more than 31 miles on foot to a water source, before proceeding to Assamaka, where they alerted authorities.
“This is something we have been working against, for years,” Chehuo Azizou, the head of a local NGO said.
“We have been sensitizing drivers, travelers and any person involved immigration activities about the risk of crossing the desert. This recent incident is not unusual. Generally, we witness such cases on the route heading to Libya or Algeria.”

The lorry reportedly left the Malian town of Telhandek but veered off course, ultimately being bogged down in the desert with catastrophic consequences

In this latest case, the lorry had departed from the Malian town of Telhandek but veered away from its intended route, the Agadez governor’s statement said.
The driver and passengers made repeated attempts to repair the vehicle over several days, but their efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful.
A delegation sent by the Agadez Region Governor found the victims’ bodies under and around the immobile truck.
“Deprived of water and unable to repair the vehicle” most were unable to survive, the statement added.
“Dozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings,” it said.
The victims, all nationals of Niger, were buried in mass graves by the rescue team dispatched to the area by local authorities.

The group, all Nigerien, were returning from Mali, where they had attended celebrations for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when they ran out of water, stranded more than 50 miles west of Assamaka, a major border crossing point between Niger and Algeria

While returning from the scene, the rescue team said it came across another broken-down lorry carrying more than 60 people, who had been stranded for three days after a battery failure.
The lorry had set off from the Malian town of Harouba, more than 186 miles from the Niger border, the governor said in a follow-up statement.
The rescue team, which included Nigerien troops, distributed water to the “exhausted and distressed travelers” and helped repair the vehicle, allowing them to safely resume their journey.
The Niger desert remains a major transit corridor for migrants from across West Africa trying to reach Europe, repeatedly defying the risks associated with the perilous journey.
Authorities in the nearest city, Agadez, noted that the tragedy underscored the “vulnerability of young people engaged in migratory and cross-border economic activities, often forced to pass through unstable areas in order to survive or seek better living conditions”.