AGADEZ, NIGER: At least 49 people have died of thirst in a remote part of the Sahara desert in northern Niger after the truck carrying them broke down, according to authorities.

The group was returning from Mali, where they had attended celebrations for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when they ran out of water.

They became stranded more than 80km (50 miles) west of Assamaka, a major border crossing point between Niger and Algeria.

The governor of Agadez stated that the travelers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and a lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult.

Only two individuals survived the ordeal, trekking across the desert to Assamaka, where they alerted the authorities.

In this latest case, the lorry had departed from the Malian town of Telhandek but veered away from its intended route, the Agadez governor’s statement noted.

The driver and passengers made repeated, ultimately unsuccessful attempts to repair the vehicle over several days.

Deprived of water and unable to fix the vehicle, most were unable to survive. The governor’s statement added that dozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings.

The victims, who were all nationals of Niger, were buried in mass graves by a rescue team dispatched to the area by local authorities.