Eighteen migrants, mostly from West African countries have been discovered dead in the Sahara desert in Niger.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirms that most of them died of dehydration after they had lost their way in a sandstorm, having set off from the desert town of Arlit.
It is not quite certain but the 17 men and one woman who were found died, were said to have died on Wednesday, June 3, 2015.
It is estimated by the IOM that about 100,000 persons are expected to make the same journey through the Sahara Desert this year.
Among the migrants where persons from Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal, the Central African Republic, Liberia, Guinea and one reported to be from Algeria, the IOM disclosed.
Unfortunately, there exists no rescue teams in the Sahara, which explains why the migrants’ bodies were not discovered for almost 10 days.
The IOM estimates that about 1,865 people have died since this year in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe and the IOM also states that it is quite impossible to know how many migrants die in the desert.
However, the death toll is possibly hundreds every year.
