The Ghanaians and Nigerians were trying to get to Libya, according to Nigerien news site Sahelien.

The six survivors, all women, walked to a remote village and are being looked after in Dirkou, Niger, Red Cross official Lawal Taher said.

They say several children among the dead.

So far no-one has visited the site to identify the bodies, Mr Taher added.

The route from Niger to Libya is one of the main ways migrants reach North Africa before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe.

Crossing the Sahara is one of the most perilous parts of the journey as migrants are crammed into pickup trucks often with only enough room for a few litres of water, reports Reuters news agency.

Authorities told Reuters that is it almost impossible to know how many have died in the vast and unpoliced Sahara.

Last June, the bodies of 34 migrants, including 20 children, were found in the Sahara Desert near Niger’s border with Algeria.

It appeared they had died of thirst after being abandoned by their smuggler, a government minister said at the time.

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Source: BBC

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It is just the second time in living memory that snow has fallen, with the last occasion being in February 1979.

The pictures were taken by amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata in the small Saharan desert town of Ain Sefra, Algeria, yesterday afternoon.

He captured the amazing moment snow fell on the red sand dunes in the world’s largest hot desert.
Snow was last seen in Ain Sefra, which is known as ‘The Gateway to the Desert’, on February 18, 1979 – when the snow storm lasted just half an hour.

This time the snow stayed for a day in the town, which is around 1,000 metres above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains.

Karim said: ‘Everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the dessert, it is such a rare occurrence.

‘It looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand and made a great set of photos.

‘The snow stayed for about a day and has now melted away.’

The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousand years.

Although the Sahara is very dry today, it is expected to become green again in about 15,000 years.

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Source: Daily Mail

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