NIAMEY, Niger — At least 44 migrants, including babies, have died of thirst after their vehicle broke down in the Sahara Desert as they were making their way to Libya, an official in Niger said on Thursday.

Niger is a major route for West African migrants making their way toward Europe. Some 300,000 migrants passed through the vast West African nation in 2016 alone, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Most of the dead migrants were from Ghana, said Bachir Manzo, the prefect of Dirkou locality. They included three babies, two older children, and 17 women. Six people survived and are being cared for in the Dirkou migrant center, Manzo said.

It is impossible to know how many migrants are lost in the desert with so many making their way north. Bodies may not be discovered for weeks, and generally those that are found are buried in the desert or left where they are.

‘‘Since the end of 2016 there’s been more controls against the trafficking of people, but there’s a trend showing people are willing to take even more risks now,’’ said ­Aurelie Lachant, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

The bodies were discovered just days after President Mahamadou Issoufou made a plea to the leaders of G-7 industrialized nations to address the migration crisis during a meeting in Taormina, Sicily.

Also Thursday, a local Red Cross worker said an attack by suspected extremists near Niger’s border with Mali killed 40 people, including six soldiers.

Civilians were reportedly among the dead in the attack in Abala, about 62 miles northeast of the capital, Niamey.

It was not clear who staged the attack.

ASSOCIATED PRESS