14-Year-Old Migrant: 'I buried my family'
A 14-year-old girl buried family members in the Saharan desert when they died of thirst. Her family, along with over 100 others, was on their way to Algeria.
According to Shafa, the girl who survived the ordeal, their truck had broken down. While the drivers were fixing the vehicle, the group "ran out of water."
The bodies of 87 people who were traveling with Shafa and her family were found in the northern part of Niger in the Saharan desert Wednesday.
Shafa recounts that the group, believed to be migrants, found a well and that one of them managed to get a bit of water after climbing down into it. The water was not enough and the rest of the group became very thirsty.
Shafa told the BBC that the drivers instructed them to wait while others fetch water. Fifteen people from Shafa's group died of thirst on the second day and they were promptly moved to the truck that stayed behind.
Luckily, according to the 14-year-old, the second truck returned and brought them water. Shafa also told the BBC that the group came across vehicles of the Algerian security forces. The girl said "the drivers turned around because they didn't want to be caught carrying us since this was illegal."
The group later decided to start walking after three straight days of not getting food or water. Some vehicles reportedly passed them by and "one f the passing cars even knocked down" three people from the group, killing them.
Shafa was rescued by a passing vehicle after trying to get help from other cars that passed by. She was given some milk, water, and rice cake and then the car traveled to Arlit with Shafa with them.
The girl was later reunited with her grandfather.
Shafa said, "My father died long ago, now my mother is dead, I have no sisters, no brothers."
Shafa and a little girl reportedly survived the heat of the Saharan dessert without any food or water. Eighteen men also survived the ordeal out of over 100 people travelling from Niger to Algeria.
In Sept., hundreds of migrants from Africa drowned right off the coast of the island of Lampedusa in Italy. The migrant problem has put the European Union in a tight spot, analysts say.