A total of 62 starving illegal migrants were rescued on Tuesday by the Algerian army in a desert area in Tamanrasset province, south of the capital Algiers, a security source told Xinhua.

Troops of the Algerian army spotted the migrants, mainly from Niger and Guinea, and offered them first aid before sending them to a nearby military hospital, the source said, without specifying whether the migrants are out of danger.

The source added that the migrants, accompanied by Algerians, departed from the town of Agads, in northern Niger, and headed to Tamanrasset, but failed to complete their risky journey, as their two vehicles broke down.

The survivors testified that their smugglers abandoned them in the middle of desert, adding that they endured hunger, thirst, heat as well as strong sandstorm for five days.

On Friday, some 150 people were arrested in Niger while trying to cross the border to neighboring Algeria.

In early October, 92 people died in the desert of Niger as they failed to reach the Algerian territory. 

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