Yemen: 40 dead and 150 missing after boat sinks off the coast of Aden

At least 39 people have died and 150 are missing after a boat carrying 260 people sank off the coast of the Yemeni city of Aden on Monday, local officials and witnesses say.

According to local authorities in Rudum, east of Aden, most of the passengers were from Ethiopia, who use Yemen as an important transit point on their journey to the Gulf states.

The boat was travelling from the Horn of Africa and capsized before reaching Shabwa province, Hadi al-Khurma, director of Rudum district, told Reuters.

“Fishermen and local residents managed to rescue 78 of the migrants, who reported that about 100 others who were on the same boat with them are missing. The search is still ongoing and the United Nations has been informed of the incident,” he said.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it was providing assistance to 71 survivors.

According to an aid worker who spoke to Arab News, there were 28 women on board the boat, while another aid worker who treated survivors said 48 were dead and 15 were in serious condition.

A Yemeni worker told the newspaper that the boat sank due to “strong winds.”

Pictures obtained by Arab News on Monday show bodies piled up on a vehicle transporting them to Ain Bamabad for burial.

A journalist from Shabwa, Abdul Sallam bin Sama, said fishermen discovered the bodies floating in the sea and pulled them onto the beach.

According to IOM, the number of Africans arriving in Yemen by boat rose to 97,210 in 2023, up from 73,233 in 2022 and 27,693 the year before. Due to the deteriorating economic situation, Ethiopians make up the majority of arrivals.

Yemen lies on the dangerous Eastern Mediterranean route from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East. The coastal areas in Shabwa are among the main boarding points for people trying to reach Saudi Arabia.

The latest disaster follows a series of fatal shipping accidents: at least 21 people were killed in a shipping accident off the coast of Dijibouti on April 23, and more than 60 people died in another shipping accident off the coast of Godoria on April 8.