Mogadishu, (Insidesomalia.org) At least 40 Somali refuge-seekers have drowned after being forced overboard off the shores of Yemen while trying to enter the country.

Yemeni officials told DPA that 176 people had made it to shore alive and were taken to a nearby refugee shelter, while locals buried the bodies of the victims in makeshift graves.

Survivors told rescue workers that smugglers, fearing capture by Yemeni coastguards had forced passengers on the two boats to jump off at gunpoint as they neared the end of their three-day trip across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen.

This was the latest in a series of similar tragic boat incidents in which hundreds of people are killed every year.

Since the beginning of 2008, at least 200 African illegal migrants have died or gone missing in boat accidents off Yemen.

Hundreds of Somali and Ethiopian migrants perish every year making the dangerous crossing of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen on small boats run by smugglers operating from Somali ports.

Last year, more than 113,000 people, mostly Somalis escaping civil war, made the risky voyage to Yemen, with over 1,400 deaths.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment