ESAT News (June 1, 2017)
Survivors say 44 people have died of thirst after their truck broke down in the Sahara Desert in northern Niger, the Red Cross has told the BBC.
The six survivors, all women, walked to a remote village and are being looked after in Dirkou, Niger, Red Cross official Lawal Taher said.
They say several children are among the dead.
The Ghanaians and Nigerians were trying to get to Libya, reports Nigerien news site Sahelien.
Meanwhile, migrants rescued from a rubber boat that left Libya last week said as many as 30 people were trampled or drowned during their voyage as this year’s Mediterranean death toll climbed to more than 1,700, the U.N. said on Tuesday.
They arrived in Pozzallo, Italy, on Monday and said their boat lost its motor and took on water hours after leaving Libya, according to Reuters.
Reuters explained that some other migrants fell in the sea and drowned and others were trampled during the panic, including a small child, leaving between 20 and 30 dead. Two bodies were recovered.
Migrant arrivals by sea to Italy are up about a third this year to roughly 60,000, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has recorded more than 1,700 dead or missing. More than 50 bodies have been brought to Italy over the past few days and dozens more are feared dead, the agency said, according to Reuters.