Niamey, Oct 31 (IANS): The bodies of 87 migrants, who were trying to cross the Sahara, have been found in a severe state of decomposition in Niger near the Algerian border, BBC reported Thursday.

Rescue workers in Niger said the migrants died of thirst as they tried to cross Sahara after their vehicles broke down. Most of the corpses belong to women and children, they added.

Niger lies on a major migrant route between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

Officials said that one of the migrants' vehicles broke down some time after they left Arlit town at the end of September or beginning of October.

Arlit lies some 200 km south of Niger's border with Algeria.

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 the town and raised the alarm, he said.

"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," Almoustapha Alhacen, a rescue worker, was quoted as saying.

Given that at least 48 of those found were children or teenagers, Alhacen said it was possible they were on their way to low paid jobs in neighbouring Algeria.

Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and frequently suffers from drought and food crises.