44 Nigerian, Ghanaian Immigrants perish in Sahara Desert

44 migrants from Nigeria and
Ghana have died in the Sahara
Desert after their truck broke
down in arid northern Niger.
Red Cross said the migrants, most
of whom have not been identified,
died this week.

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According to Reuters, six survivors
walked to a remote village where
they said that 44 people, mostly
from Ghana and Nigeria and
including three babies and two
other children, died of thirst, said
Lawal Taher, department head for
the Red Cross in the Bilma region.
Taher said a search for the bodies
was underway.

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The number of migrants who cross
the Sahara has increased in recent
years as impoverished West
Africans risk their lives to try to
reach Europe.
In one of the most perilous parts of
the journey, thousands of migrants
each week are crammed into
pickup trucks for the days-long
ride from Niger into Libya, often
with only enough room for a few
litres of water.

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Authorities and aid organisations
are able to keep track of the
thousands of migrant deaths in the
Mediterranean Sea between Africa
and Europe, but is it almost
impossible to know how many have
died in the vast and unpoliced
Sahara.

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Last year, a report by 4mi, an
affiliate of the Danish Refugee
Council, reported that it is likely
that more migrants die in the
desert than at sea, according to
testimony from migrants.