Authorities in the nation of Niger have recovered 92 bodies of migrants who died of thirst after the trucks they were travelling in broke down in a desolate no-man's-land at the feet of the Sahara desert, officials said Thursday. 
 
 The dozens of people were being smuggled last month along a well-established trafficking route used to move contraband, including people, from Niger to neighboring Algeria, said Col. Garba Makido the governor of the Nigerien province of Agadez, south of where the bodies were found. Officials were only alerted to the incident when a lone woman managed to stumble out of the desert earlier this month. She was picked up by a passing car which took her to the city of Arlit, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of where the first of the two trucks broke down. 
 
 The next day, a father walking with his two young daughters also arrived. But his children perished of thirst just a few kilometers (miles) outside of Arlit, said Makido. A total of 21 people survived, most of whom made their way to towns at the Algerian border. 
 
 "This is a true tragedy," said Makido. "The prosecutor has opened an investigation and we plan to do everything we can to find the truck drivers." 
 
 First word of the incident came Monday when officials reported that 35 people died of thirst but the death toll rose when more bodies were recovered from the desert. 
 
 The tract of land that runs across the continent just south of the vast Sahara desert has for decades been the province of smugglers and criminals, including the local chapter of al-Qaida. Tens of thousands of West African immigrants attempting to reach Europe each year have tapped into this perilous route, after authorities cracked down on sea routes via the Atlantic Ocean. They travel from countries across the region to the Nigerien city of Agadez where they pay smugglers to ferry them across the ocean of sand in rickety trucks, braving one of the most austere landscapes on earth for a chance at a better life. ||||| Media caption Photos show the scene where the migrants were found in the Sahara 
 
 Rescue workers in Niger say they have found the bodies of 92 people who died of thirst after their vehicles broke down as they tried to cross the Sahara. 
 
 Rescue worker Almoustapha Alhacen said the corpses were in a severe state of decomposition and had been partly eaten, probably by jackals. 
 
 Those found are thought to be migrant workers and their families. Most were women and children. 
 
 Niger lies on a major migrant route between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. 
 
 But among those who make it across the desert, many end up working in North African countries. 
 
 Analysis Thousands attempt to cross this stretch of Sahara desert to reach the coasts of North Africa, and from there Europe. I remember the exhaustion of migrants whom I met in Agadez in 2011. Most were in their 20s and determined to continue their journey - despite the war in Libya at the time. "In our country, our talent is useless," one young Nigerian said. "But in Europe, we'll be able to thrive on it," he added. Agadez is still several hundred kilometres from either Libya or Algeria. There is nothing in between but sand - a perilous desert where the extreme heat can kill. Traffickers extort large sums of money from migrants seeking a one-way ticket for a better life. They all know that death may be on the way, but they're ready to risk it, clinging onto hope. 
 
 'It was horrible' 
 
 According to Mr Alhacen, one of the vehicles that the migrants were travelling in broke down some time after they left Arlit at the end of September or beginning of October. 
 
 Security officials said the second vehicle broke down as it was on its way back to Arlit to get spare parts. 
 
 It appears that some of the group set out on foot, including up to 10 people who made it back to Arlit and raised the alarm, he said. 
 
 It was reported on Monday that five bodies had been found. 
 
 On Wednesday, volunteers and soldiers working in searing heat found other corpses about 10km (six miles) from the Algerian border. 
 
 Mr Alhacen told the BBC's Hausa service the bodies of 52 children, 33 women and seven men had since been buried. 
 
 He said that it was most likely that the people were from Niger, judging by their dress and how the women's hair was braided. 
 
 Korans and tablets used by children at madrassas [Islamic school] were found amongst the belongings, said Mr Alhacen. 
 
 Speaking from Arlit, a centre for uranium mining north of Agadez, Mr Alhacen said he had experienced the worst day of his life when he found the bodies. 
 
 "The corpses were decomposed; it was horrible," he said. 
 
 My guess is that the children were madrassa [Islamic school] children, being taken to Algeria to work Almoustapha Alhacen, Rescue worker 
 
 "We found bodies across a wide area. We had no idea what to expect because we didn't know how many people had been in the vehicles." 
 
 They were given Muslim burials where they were found, Mr Alhacen said. 
 
 ''What was shocking was that they were small. There was a dead woman holding her baby," he added. 
 
 Given that so many of those found were teenagers, Mr Alhacen said it was possible they were on their way to low-paid jobs in neighbouring Algeria. 
 
 "My guess is that the children were madrassa children, being taken to Algeria to work. That is the only explanation that I and others can find for such a large number of children having travelled together,'' Mr Alhacen said. 
 
 About 80,000 migrants cross the Sahara desert through Niger, according to John Ging, director of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 
 
 "They are basically economic migrants. They are in search of work. They are so impoverished that they have to make these hazardous journeys," he told the BBC's Newsday programme. 
 
 Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and frequently suffers from drought and food crises. 
 
 Migration routes across the Sahara desert
– Earlier reports suggested that about 35 people, apparently migrants seeking work, had died of thirst in a Niger desert—but the remains of more than double that number have been discovered by rescue teams, reports the AP. The 92 highly decomposed bodies appeared to have been scavenged by jackals, rescue worker Almoustapha Alhacen says. At least 48 were children or teens, the BBC reports. The group, whose vehicle broke down, may have been heading for work in Algeria, Alhacen notes. The BBC notes that some 80,000 a year are thought to attempt a similarly dangerous journey across the Sahara, ultimately aiming for Europe.