Not less than 49 individuals died of thirst in a distant a part of the Sahara Desert in northern Niger after the truck they have been carrying broke down, authorities mentioned.
The group was getting back from Mali, the place that they had been attending an Islamic pageant, after they ran out of water and have become stranded greater than 80 kilometers west of Asamaka, the principle border crossing between Niger and Algeria.
“The vacationers discovered themselves trapped within the coronary heart of a harsh surroundings the place excessive temperatures and lack of provides made survival extraordinarily troublesome,” Governor Agadez mentioned in a press release.
The one survivors have been the 2, who trekked by the desert to Asamaka, the place they alerted the authorities.
The governor’s assertion mentioned the truck left the Malian city of Telkhandek however deviated from its deliberate route.
Over the course of a number of days, the motive force and passenger made repeated makes an attempt to restore the automobile, however have been finally unsuccessful.
“Disadvantaged of water and unable to restore their autos regardless of the efforts of the drivers, their apprentices and passengers, the vacationers discovered themselves trapped within the coronary heart of a harsh surroundings,” the assertion added.
“Dozens of our bodies have been discovered below and across the caught truck,” the assertion mentioned.
The victims have been buried in mass graves by rescue groups dispatched to the scene by native authorities.
Rescuers mentioned they have been getting back from the scene after they encountered one other broken-down truck carrying greater than 60 individuals who had been stranded for 3 days on account of a battery failure.
The governor mentioned in a later assertion that the truck departed from the Malian city of Harouba, greater than 300 kilometers from the Niger border.
Rescue groups, together with members of the Nigerian navy, distributed water to “exhausted and stranded vacationers” and helped restore their autos so they may safely resume their journeys.
The Niger Desert stays a significant transit route for migrants from throughout West Africa heading for Europe, usually overcoming the dangers related to the treacherous journey.
The governor mentioned the tragedy highlighted the “vulnerability of younger individuals engaged in migration and cross-border financial actions, who are sometimes compelled to transit by unstable areas so as to survive or search higher dwelling situations.”
