Monday, January 21, 2008

Wooden Boat Capsized In Yemen; About 82 African Migrants Drowned

Yemeni officials said Sunday that at least 82 African would-be migrants, mostly Somalis, have drowned off Yemen after their wooden boat capsized in choppy waters as it neared the end of its voyage from Somalia. The officials added that the incident occurred a few miles off the Ahwar town of the southern Yemeni province of Abyan on the Gulf of Aden late Friday.After the boat ran into rocks and capsized, local fishermen rescued 30 passengers and recovered bodies of 22 others. Survivors told authorities there had been about 140 people aboard the boat. A local official in Ahwar told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "Around 60 bodies washed up on shores of Ahwar Sunday and up to 28 people are still missing."

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