At least 49 people have died of thirst in a remote part of the Sahara desert in northern Niger after the truck they were traveling in broke down, authorities said.
The victims were buried in mass graves by the rescue team dispatched to the area.
The group was returning from Mali, where they had attended a Muslim festival. They ran out of water while stranded more than 80 kilometers west of Assamaka, a key border crossing between Niger and Algeria.
Only two people survived. They trekked across the desert to Assamaka and alerted authorities.
According to the Agadez governor, the truck had departed from the Malian town of Telhandek but veered off its intended route. Despite repeated attempts by the driver and passengers to repair the vehicle, they were unsuccessful.
The governor’s statement described the scene: “Dozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings.”
The rescue team, while returning from the scene, also encountered another broken-down truck carrying more than 60 people. That group had been stranded for three days due to a battery failure. Rescue workers distributed water and helped repair the vehicle.
The Niger desert remains a major transit corridor for migrants from across West Africa attempting to reach Europe, despite the extreme dangers.