Boat Overturn Kills Over Twenty Migrants Near Yemen’s Coast

(MENAFN) More than 20 African migrants lost their lives and many others remain unaccounted for after a smuggling vessel carrying approximately 150 people capsized off the southern coast of Yemen’s Abyan Province, according to Yemeni sources on Sunday.

A local official, speaking to media on condition of anonymity, said the boat overturned around 11:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) Saturday night, citing strong winds as the cause of the incident.

Emergency teams recovered over 20 bodies along the shores of Shaqra and Zinjibar early Sunday, the official confirmed. Twelve individuals were pulled from the water alive and have since been taken to Shaqra General Hospital for medical care. However, many migrants are still missing.

Authorities in Abyan have launched an extensive recovery effort to retrieve the deceased, describing it as a major humanitarian mission.

In a formal statement, the Abyan Security Directorate reported that security units are conducting a broad search and recovery operation targeting the remains of a large number of Ethiopian nationals who drowned while trying to enter Yemen illegally via smuggling boats departing from the Horn of Africa.

The statement further noted that bodies are being moved to hospitals in Zinjibar, despite significant logistical and resource constraints. Officials warned that numerous corpses have been discovered along scattered coastal regions, indicating the possibility of additional victims lost at sea.

The security directorate appealed for immediate action from both local and international organizations to help stem the tide of irregular migration through Yemen’s coastal waters.

Thousands of African migrants continue to journey into Yemen each year, only to be met with dire conditions in a country wracked by over a decade of conflict and labeled by the United Nations as enduring one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.

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