Fourteen people, including twelve Syrians, tragically lost their lives after becoming disoriented in the desert of Algeria’s Illizi province, near the Libyan border in the southeast of the country.
This devastating news was confirmed by the Algerian Rescue and Relief Association (ARLA) through a statement posted on their Facebook page.
The association reported that the bodies were discovered in the “Belkebour” area of the desert and were subsequently transferred to the morgue at Bordj Omar Driss in Illizi province. The victims, all male, ranged in age from 10 to 57 years old. The nationalities of the remaining two victims have not yet been identified.
In a separate statement, the Syrian Embassy in Algeria confirmed the death of twelve Syrian nationals in the Algerian desert. As of now, there has been no official comment from Algerian authorities regarding the incident. Additionally, details about the victims’ intended destination remain unclear.
It is also unknown whether the Syrian nationals had entered Algerian territory from neighboring countries or if they had already been in Algeria before moving towards the desert.
In recent weeks, Algeria’s central and southern desert provinces have experienced record-breaking heat waves, with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, according to warnings from the government meteorological office.
Southern Algerian provinces are often used as transit points by African migrants attempting to reach the northern shores of the Mediterranean. Algerian authorities have reported that human trafficking gangs are active in these areas, transporting irregular migrants from various African nationalities to the Mediterranean coast, with the eventual goal of reaching southern Europe.
