Yemen: A boat carrying about 150 people sank off the coast of Ahwar district in Yemen's southern Abyan province. Ten of them were rescued. Among those rescued were nine Ethiopians and one Yemeni. More than 74 people are still missing. Rescue operations are underway, provincial health official Abdul Qadir Bazmeel said.
Increase in number of migrants
The number of migrants arriving in Yemen from Africa has increased. Despite being torn apart by more than a decade of civil war, Yemen is a major route for migrants from East Africa to Gulf Arab countries. Migrants are smuggled in dangerous boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden. The International Organization for Migration says more than 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen last year.
Fourteen bodies have been transferred to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province on Yemen’s southern coast. A large-scale rescue operation is underway as the number of migrants dead and missing increases. The Abyan Security Directorate said many bodies are scattered across the beach.
In recent months, several shipwrecks off Yemen have left migrants dead or missing. Two migrants died and 186 were missing when four boats sank in March.