LIVE UPDATES
At least 68 bodies of passengers from a migrant boat have been recovered, while 74 others are missing after the vessel capsized off Yemen's coast in rough seas.
The unfortunate boat was reportedly carrying 154 Ethiopian migrants when it sank in the Gulf of Aden, near Abyan province in southern Yemen.
Abdusattor Esoev, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, informed reporters that 54 migrant bodies were discovered along the shore in the Khanfar district, with another 14 recovered and transported to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan.
"Only 12 migrants survived the shipwreck; the rest are missing and assumed to be dead," Esoev stated. The security directorate of Abyan has launched a significant search-and-rescue operation in light of the substantial number of deceased and missing migrants.
Despite enduring over ten years of civil war, Yemen continues to be a primary route for individuals from East Africa and the Horn of Africa attempting to reach Gulf Arab nations for employment. Smugglers often transport migrants on perilous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.
Numerous individuals have died or disappeared in shipwrecks off Yemen in recent months, including an incident in March where two migrants died and 186 were reported missing after four vessels capsized off Yemen and Djibouti, according to the IOM.
An IOM report from March noted that over 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, a decline from 97,200 in 2023, likely due to heightened patrols in the waters.
