Death toll from African migrant boat sinking off Yemen rises to 86

ADEN, Aug. 06 (YPA) – The death toll from a migrant boat sinking off the coast of Yemen has risen to 86, according to local sources who indicated that the incident occurred last Sunday.

The sources explained that the boat was carrying 170 migrants, of whom only 42 were rescued, while the bodies of the victims were found scattered along the coast of Abyan province in southern Yemen.

The head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s mission in Yemen, ‘Abdussattar Isoev,’ told the Associated Press that the incident occurred in the Gulf of Aden off Abyan province early Sunday.

Yemen is one of the most important routes for illegal migration from East Africa and the Horn of Africa to the GCC states, with smugglers using overcrowded and unsafe boats to transport migrants across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

IOM has recorded hundreds of migrant deaths off the coast of Yemen recently, including an incident last March in which two migrants drowned and 186 others went missing after four boats capsized off Yemen and Djibouti.

YPA