The UN migration agency says it is “deeply shocked and saddened” by the discovery of dozens of bodies, including those of children, in the Chadian desert. The 27 migrants had reportedly left Moussoro, a crossroads town in central Chad about 17 months ago in a pick-up truck, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement. It said the migrants, who included four children, died of thirst – with their trucks believed to have got lost in the deep desert. IOM Chad Chief of Mission Anne Kathrin Schaefer has sent her condolences to the families and called for stronger collective action to prevent further deaths. The migration agency says it has documented the deaths and disappearances of more than 5,600 people transiting through the Sahara Desert since 2014, with 149 deaths recorded so far this year. It says the numbers are likely higher as many migrant deaths go unrecorded.
SOURCE: BBC