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The bodies of 34 migrants, including 20 children, who were abandoned by people smugglers while trying to reach neighbouring Algeria were found in the Niger desert last week, authorities said on Wednesday.
“Thirty-four people, including five men, nine women and 20 children died trying to cross the desert,” Niger’s interior ministry said in a statement.
“They probably died of thirst, as is often the case, and they were found near Assamaka,” a security source told AFP, referring to a border post between Niger and Algeria.
“(The migrants) were abandoned by people smugglers,” the statement added, and only two of the bodies have so far been identified — a man and a 26-year-old woman both from Niger.
Thousands of illegal migrants have arrived in Algeria in recent years, mostly from neighbouring Mali and Niger.
Libya used to play host to the majority of migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, but since that country descended into chaos following the ousting of Muammar Gadaffi, Algeria has become the main destination for the region’s migrants.
Many transit through Algeria headed for Europe.
