At least 54 migrants died and dozens are disappeared after the wreck of a boat in the Arabian Sea
Migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in a pneumatic boat, photo: Valeria Mongelli / AFP / Profimedia
At least 54 immigrants died after a boat transporting about 150 people sank off the ribs of Yemen on Sunday, under unfavorable weather conditions, dozens of people still missing, health officials reported, Reuters reports.
The boat overturned off the Ahwar district, from Abyan province, in the south of Yemen, in the Arabian Sea, sources in the field of security quoted by Reuters said, writes News.ro.
Abdul Qadir Bajameel, a regional health official, said that 10 of the approximately 150 people on board were saved – nine Ethiopians and a year – but dozens are still missing data.
Two doctors said the rescue teams continue to look for survivors.
The International Migration Organization (OIM) states that Yemen continues to register a significant increase in the influx of illegal immigrants coming from Africa.
Immigrants cross the Bab El-Mandeb Strait every year, which separates Djibouti and Eritrea from Yemen, in precarious boats, hoping to reach Saudi Arabia and other Golf countries, looking for a job.
OIM describes the route between the horn of Africa and Yemen as “one of the most busy and dangerous mixed migration routes in the world.” The organization said that it had registered the arrival of over 60,000 immigrants in Yemen last year.
