49 Die, Two Survive After Truck Breaks Down in Niger Desert

Forty-nine people died of thirst after a truck broke down in a remote area of the Sahara desert in Niger, the Agadez governorate said in a Facebook statement. The victims were part of a group returning from Mali for a Muslim festival. The truck transporting them broke down more than 80 kilometres west of Assamaka, leaving the passengers without water.

"Deprived of water and unable to repair the vehicle despite the efforts of the driver, his assistants and the passengers, the travellers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and the absence of supply points make survival extremely difficult," the governorate stated. The victims were buried in mass graves. Two people survived the incident.

They walked more than 50 kilometres on foot to a nearby water source, then continued to the town of Assamaka, where they alerted authorities. Assamaka serves as a main crossing point between Niger and Algeria and lies close to the Mali frontier. The desert zone functions as a known transit point for migrants traveling from African nations toward Europe, and many have previously died from thirst or starvation in the area.