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At Least 46 Migrants Die as Boat Capsizes Off Yemeni Coast - UN

© REUTERS / Marina MilitareMigrants are seen on a capsizing boat before a rescue operation by Italian navy ships "Bettica" and "Bergamini" off the coast of Libya in this handout picture released by the Italian Marina Militare on May 25, 2016.
Migrants are seen on a capsizing boat before a rescue operation by Italian navy ships Bettica and Bergamini off the coast of Libya in this handout picture released by the Italian Marina Militare on May 25, 2016. - Sputnik International
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GENEVA (Sputnik) – At least 46 migrants died and 16 others went missing as a boat capsized off the Yemeni coast in the Gulf of Aden, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Tragedy struck migrants trying to cross from the Horn of Africa to find employment in Yemen and the Gulf, when their vessel capsized in high waves as it approached its destination in the early hours of 6 June … IOM staff reported that 46 migrants had drowned, 37 men and 9 women. A further 16 remain missing, presumed dead," the statement read.

(File) Refugees and migrants aboard an inflatable dinghy are about to be rescued by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea, overnight on January 16, 2016 - Sputnik International
At Least 16 Died as Boat With Migrants Capsizes Off Greek Island - Reports
The accident occurred after at least 100 Ethiopian migrants, 83 men and 17 women, left the port of Bosaso in Somalia on an overloaded smugglers’ boat on Tuesday. They have traveled through the night across the Gulf of Aden and approached the shore in the early hours of Wednesday.

Survivors said that those on the boat who had no lifejackets started panicking as high waves hit the vessel close to the shore. After it, the boat took on water, and many of the migrants drowned in rough seas, according to the IOM.

Yemen is a major migration hub in the Middle East with thousands dying as they try to cross to the country via the Gulf of Aden. According to the IOM figures, around 7,000 migrants travel across the gulf every month, and around 100,000 took this journey in 2017.

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