Not less than 44 Nigerian and Ghanaian migrants, including women and babies, have been found dead after their vehicle broke down in the desert of northern Niger while on the way to Libya.


"The number of migrants who died in the desert is 44 for now," said Rhissa Feltou, the mayor of Agadez, a remote town through which many people cross in the hope of reaching Libya and then Europe, local officials have said.

Only six survivors, all women emerged from the group, walked to a remote village and are being looked after in Dirkou, Niger, AFP news agency reports.

The Ghanaians and Nigerians were trying to get to Libya, reports Nigerien news site Sahelien. So far no-one has visited the site to identify the bodies.