By Xinhua
Sanaa : At least 82 people, mostly Somalis, have lost their lives when their boat capsized off the southern coast of Yemen, local media quoted authorities as saying.
According to Yemeni officials, the accident occurred on the Gulf of Aden, near the Ahwar town of the southern province of Abyan of Yemen, when a wooden boat carrying the migrants capsized after it struck a rock Jan 18.
So far, the rescue officials and local fishermen have rescued 30 survivors and recovered 22 bodies, the officials said.
According to survivors, about 140 people were on board when the accident happened.
About 60 bodies were washed up on shore and over 20 people were still missing, an official in Ahwar said Sunday.
A total of 113,000 people, mostly Somalis, tried to sneak into Yemen in the previous year and around 1,400 of them were killed during the voyage, according to the statistics from the UN High Commission for Refugees.