More than 49 people have died of thirst after a lorry carrying passengers broke down in the Sahara desert region of northern Niger, authorities have confirmed.
According to officials, all those who died were Nigerien nationals returning home after attending a religious festival in Mali.
The incident occurred in a remote desert area located more than 80 kilometres west of the town of Assamaka, near the borders with Mali and Algeria, according to an official statement issued by the governor’s office of Niger’s Agadez region.
Authorities said only two people survived the ordeal.
The survivors reportedly walked more than 50 kilometres in search of water before eventually reaching the town of Assamaka, where they alerted local authorities.
A delegation dispatched by Agadez regional authorities later discovered that the vehicle had been travelling for several days from the Malian town of Talhandek, located around 300 kilometres from the Niger border.
Officials have not yet determined what caused the vehicle breakdown or how long passengers remained stranded before help arrived.
“The scenes witnessed during inspections were deeply distressing and tragic,” the governor’s office said, noting that numerous victims were found near the stranded vehicle.
Authorities stated that the passengers had become trapped in an extremely harsh environment without access to water while attempts to repair the vehicle reportedly failed.
The incident highlights the severe dangers faced by travellers crossing remote desert regions, where extreme temperatures and limited access to water can quickly become life-threatening.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy are continuing.
