At least 68 bodies of passengers onboard a migrant vessel have been recovered, and 74 others declared missing after the boat capsized off the coast of Yemen amid rough seas.
The ill-fated vessel was reportedly carrying 154 Ethiopian migrants when it sank in the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen’s southern Abyan province.
The head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, Abdusattor Esoev, told journalists that the bodies of 54 migrants were found washed ashore in Khanfar district, while 14 others were recovered and taken to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan.
“Only 12 migrants survived the shipwreck, and the rest are missing and presumed dead,” Esoev said.
In a statement, the Abyan security directorate described a massive search-and-rescue operation underway given the large number of dead and missing migrants.
Despite more than a decade of civil war, Yemen remains a major route for people from East Africa and the Horn of Africa trying to reach Gulf Arab countries for work.
Migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.
Hundreds have died or gone missing in shipwrecks off Yemen in recent months, including in March when two migrants died and 186 others were missing after four boats capsized off Yemen and Djibouti, according to the IOM.
According to an IOM report in March, more than 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, down from 97,200 in 2023, likely due to increased patrolling of the waters.
