From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Wed Jan 21 2009 - 15:24:09 EST
Somali, Djibouti Smugglers' Boats Capsize Off Yemen; 15 Dead
By Jason McLure
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- At least 15 people died and a dozen are missing
after smugglers' boats carrying 270 people from East Africa to Yemen
capsized over the weekend, the United Nations refugee agency said.
On Jan. 18, a vessel carrying 120 people from the northern Somali town
of Murera capsized off the Yemeni coast, the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees said in an e-mailed statement today. Nine bodies have been
recovered by a local aid agency, while 12 people are still missing, it
said.
On Jan. 16, another boat carrying 150 passengers from the town of Obock
in Djibouti capsized in deep water off the Yemeni coast after its engine
failed. Yemeni officials have recovered six bodies and 32 survivors.
Another 112 are believed to have reached land, though their whereabouts
are unknown, UNHCR said.
"The Yemeni coast guard is still searching for survivors," Leila Nassif,
head of the UNHCR office in the Yemeni port of Aden, said in the
statement. "We are providing medical aid and food to the survivors at
our reception centers along the Yemen coast."
More than 50,000 people, mostly Somalis fleeing war and drought in their
homeland, crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen in 2008. At least 590
drowned or were killed by people traffickers, and another 359 are
reported missing, according to the UN agency.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via
Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 21, 2009 02:03 EST
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