A boat carrying approximately 150 migrants has capsized off the Southern coast of Yemen due to bad weather, killing at least 68 people and leaving dozens unaccounted for.
The Yemeni head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Abdusattor Esoev, said that rescue teams recovered 54 bodies that had washed up on beaches, and a further 14 were airlifted to a hospital in Zinjibar.
Only 12 migrants survived the shipwreck, and the rest are missing and presumed dead, Esoev said.
This continues a sequence of shipwrecks off the coast of Yemen, all carrying migrants fleeing from conflict, hoping to reach the wealthy Gulf Arab countries. In March of this year, over 180 migrants were presumed dead after a similar incident.
Despite Yemen’s ongoing civil war, the route has become common for migrants seeking refuge from East Africa and the Horn of Africa. Migrants often travel on overcrowded and unsafe smugglers’ vessels.
In recent months, hundreds of migrants have gone missing or died off the coast of Yemen. According to the IOM migration report, more than 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024. The number has decreased from 97,200 in 2023. IOM attributes the decline to greater patrolling of waters.
Photo by NASA found HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified
