Yemen: 68 African migrants die and dozens go missing after boat capsizes.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Yemen ((Arabian Sea)) Agencies: The International Organization for Migration (IOM), affiliated with the United Nations, announced the death of 68 African migrants and the disappearance of 74 others after their boat capsized today, Sunday, in the waters off the coast of Yemen. Abdel-Sattar Essouev, head of the IOM mission in Yemen, told the Associated Press that the boat, which was carrying 154 Ethiopian migrants, capsized off the coast of Abyan Governorate in Yemen. Essouev said that 12 migrants survived the boat sinking, adding that the waves washed the bodies of 54 migrants ashore in the Khanfar district of Yemen, while 14 others were found dead at a different location and their bodies were transferred to a hospital morgue. In a statement, the Abyan Governorate Security Administration described the operation as a massive search and rescue operation due to the large number of victims and missing persons, noting that many bodies were found scattered along a wide stretch of the beach. Despite the ongoing civil war for more than a decade, Yemen remains a major route for migrants from East Africa and the Horn of Africa, who seek to reach the Arab Gulf states in search of job opportunities. Smugglers transport migrants in crowded and dangerous boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.