{"id":807,"date":"2026-06-05T11:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=807"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:46:32","slug":"nearly-50-people-die-of-thirst-in-sahara-desert-after-lorry-breaks-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=807","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 50 people die of thirst in Sahara desert after lorry breaks down"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At least 49 people have died of thirst in a remote part of the Sahara desert in northern Niger after the truck carrying them broke down, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The group had been returning from Mali where they had attended a Muslim festival when they ran out of water, stranded more than 80 km (50 miles) west of Assamaka, a major border crossing point between Niger and Algeria.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe travellers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult,\u201d said a statement from the Agadez governor.<\/p>\n

Only two survived, trekking across the desert to Assamaka, where they alerted authorities.<\/p>\n

The lorry had departed from the Malian town of Telhandek but veered away from its intended route, the governor\u2019s statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For several days, the driver and passengers made repeated attempts to repair the vehicle, but their efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeprived of water and unable to repair the vehicle despite the efforts of the driver, his apprentice and passengers, travellers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment,\u201d the statement added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The victims were buried in mass graves by the rescue team dispatched to the area by local authorities.<\/p>\n

\"Agadez
The lorry left the Malian town of Telhandek but veered off course, authorities said\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While returning from the scene, the rescue team said it came across another broken-down lorry carrying more than 60 people, who had been stranded for three days after a battery failure.<\/p>\n

The lorry had set off from the Malian town of Harouba, more than 300km (186 miles) from the Niger border, the governor said in a follow-up statement.<\/p>\n

The rescue team, which included Nigerien troops, distributed water to the \u201cexhausted and distressed travellers\u201d and helped repair the vehicle, allowing them to safely resume their journey.<\/p>\n

The Niger desert remains a major transit corridor for migrants from across West Africa trying to reach Europe, repeatedly defying the risks associated with the perilous journey.<\/p>\n

The governor said the tragedy underscored the \u201cvulnerability of young people engaged in migratory and cross-border economic activities, often forced to pass through unstable areas in order to survive or seek better living conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n

The rescue team, which included Nigerien troops, distributed water to the \u201cexhausted and distressed travellers\u201d and helped repair the vehicle, allowing them to safely resume their journey.<\/p>\n

The Niger desert remains a major transit corridor for migrants from across West Africa trying to reach Europe, repeatedly defying the risks associated with the perilous journey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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At least 49 people have died of thirst in a remote part of the Sahara desert in northern Niger after the truck carrying them broke down, authorities said. The group had been returning from Mali where they had attended a Muslim festival when they ran out of water, stranded more than 80 km (50 miles)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-world-news"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}