Women and child migrants die of thirst in Sahara
The bodies of 92 people, mostly women and children who died from dehydration, are found in the Sahara desert.
The corpses of seven men, 33 women and 52 children, in addition to five bodies of women and girls found earlier, were discovered in the desert in Niger just a few kilometres from what was believed to be their destination, Algeria.
It is thought that the group was made up of migrants and the route they were travelling along is known for people trafficking. Security sources said all them had died in early October.
Mothers with children
Almoustapha Alhacen, a spokesman of local aid organisation Aghir In’man, confirmed the death toll and gave a graphic account of discovering the bodies.
“The corpses were decomposed, it was horrible,” he said. “We found them in different locations in a 20 kilometre radius and in small groups, often under trees, or under the sun.
“Sometimes a mother and children, but some lone children too.”
The bodies were buried with Muslim rites “as and when they were found”, Mr Alhacen said.
A better life
It appears to be the latest tragic case of the desperate efforts undertaken by people in some African countries take in order to find a better life.
At the start of October, hundreds of migrants, mostly Eritrean and Somalian, died when the boat they were travelling in capsized of the coast of Lampedusa, an Italian island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.