DHAKA: People smugglers in Niger neglected 34 refugees including 20 children in the Sahara desert where they died of thirst.

A statement issued by the country’s interior ministry said that the group had died trying to cross the desert into neighboring Algeria between June 6 and June 12, Al Jazeera reports on Thursday (June 16).

‘Thirty-four people, including five men, nine women and 20 children died while trying to cross the desert,’ a statement from the ministry read.

‘They were abandoned by people smugglers.’

The statement said only two of the bodies have so far been identified a man and a 26-year-old woman, both from Niger.

It was not immediately clear what the nationalities of the other victims were.

Temperatures in the region can reach 42C, with powerful sandstorms tearing across the desert.

The hostile conditions mean that only a fraction of those who die trying to cross the area are ever found.

BDST: 1740 HRS, JUN 16, 2016
SAS/RR