Rescue workers in Niger found the bodies of 92 people who died after their vehicles broke down in the Sahara as they were crossing the desert, officials said Thursday.
The group of migrants, comprising mostly of women and children, died of thirst in late September or early October when their pair of vehicles broke down. A group of up to 10 people made it to safety by foot, where they raised the alarm, BBC reports.
The migrants were headed north for the Algerian border, where they might have found low-paying work or passage to Europe. About 80,000 migrants cross the Sahara through Niger every year, according to John Ging, director of the United Nations office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
[BBC]