Forty-Nine Die of Dehydration After Truck Breaks Down in Niger Desert

Forty-nine people died of dehydration after the truck transporting them broke down in a remote area of the Sahara desert in north-west Niger, authorities said on Thursday. The victims were part of a group returning from Mali for a Muslim festival. They ran short of water more than 80 kilometres west of Assamaka, the Agadez governorate stated in a Facebook post.

Two people survived by walking more than 50 kilometres to a water source and then to Assamaka, where they alerted authorities. A delegation reached the site, and the 49 victims were buried in mass graves. On the return trip, the delegation found another stranded vehicle whose 60 passengers had been without assistance for three days; all were rescued.

The governorate noted that extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival difficult in the area. Assamaka serves as a crossing point between Niger and Algeria and lies near the Mali border. The desert zone is a known transit route for migrants traveling from African countries toward Europe, and deaths from thirst or starvation have occurred there previously.