The Niger government on Friday announced three days of national mourning for 92 migrants, nearly all of them women and children, who died in early October trying to cross the harsh Sahara desert. In a statement published in the official Sahel daily, the government said it was "profoundly moved" by the tragedy and that the country would "pray for the memory" of the 52 children, 33 women and seven men who perished in the desert and whose decomposed bodies, some of them eaten by jackals, were found last week. The days of mourning begin on Friday.