Source: Africa Publicity
At least 49 travellers who were returning from Mali where they had been taking part in Eid celebrations have died from thirst after the truck transporting them broke down in the Sahara desert.
According to authorities, their truck got stuck in an isolated Sahara desert district in Niger with no signal.
Local media reports in Mali and Niger said the truck had been carrying around a hundred passengers from Niger and it was believed that the driver had become lost, finally stopping after several days of travel.
Trapped in ‘the heart of a hostile environment’, the truck was unable to restart and passengers began dying of dehydration after they emptied their water barrels, according to reports.
Local newspaper, Actuniger, reported that two persons identified as Mohamed Bachir Souley and Issa Omar, managed to walk more than 50 kilometres on foot to a nearby water source.
The two men then travelled onwards to Assamaka – a main crossing point between Niger and Algeria but also close to the Mali frontier. Reports say once they reached the crossing, they alerted authorities to the deaths of their 49 co-travellers.
Reports say a response team was dispatched, who then buried the victims in a mass grave at the site.
Reports say many of the victims were found around and under the broken down truck.
The Agadez governorate confirmed in a post on Facebook that the 49 individuals “died of thirst in a remote area more than 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Assamaka.”
The governorate said “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.”
