Migrants die in Niger
June 1, 2017
Municipal and Red Cross officials in northern Niger said Thursday only six individuals - five men and a woman - survived the ordeal by managing to walk until they were rescued near the town of Achigour.
Niger is a major route for West Africans headed for Europe. Last year, about 330,000 transited the land-locked nation bound for Libya's Mediterranean coastline, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
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Desert routes deadly
Early in May, eight migrants from Niger, five of them children, were found dead in the desert while on their way to Algeria.
Last year, the Danish organization 4mi said it was likely that more migrants perished in the desert than the thousands who drown in the Mediterranean.
Last month, Italy and Germany called for an EU mission to be installed along Libya's border with Niger to reduce migrant inflows.
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ipj/rt (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)