DUBAI: A shipwreck off Yemen killed at least 68 migrants, with 74 still missing, The UN’s migration agency reported on Sunday.
“At this stage, the deaths of 27 people are confirmed, their bodies have been recovered,” one security source had earlier said, adding that “searches are ongoing.”
A second source said “150 people were on board the vessel that sank,” also reporting 27 dead.
A police source told AFP that “the boat was heading for the coast of (Abyan) province,” adding that “smuggler boats regularly arrive in our region.”
Abyan province’s security directorate said in a statement that security forces “are currently conducting a large operation to recover the bodies of a significant number of Ethiopian migrants (Oromos) who drowned off the coast of Abyan while attempting to illegally enter Yemeni territory.”
“Many bodies have been found across various beaches, suggesting that a number of victims are still missing at sea,” it added.
Despite the war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014, irregular migration via the impoverished country has continued, in particular from Ethiopia, which itself has been roiled by ethnic conflict.
Migrants cross the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, which separates Djibouti from Yemen and is a major route for international trade headed to and from the Suez Canal, as well as for migration and human trafficking.
According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, tens of thousands of migrants have become stranded in Yemen and suffer abuse and exploitation during their journeys.
