Thirty-four people have been confirmed dead and 123 others still
missing after two smugglers' boats carrying mainly Somali refugees
capsized off the coast of Yemen, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said
on Friday.
The UNHCR contacted the Yemeni authorities on Friday afternoon,
and "can now confirm that 34 bodies have been found," said UNHCR
spokesman William Spindler.
He added that most of the 123 people still missing may have been
drowned. "It's difficult to say, some of them may have climbed on
shore and disappeared into Yemen."
The UNHCR had said on Thursday that at least 17 people were
killed and 140 missing after the incident, which took place late on
Wednesday after Yemeni security forces opened fire on smugglers
trying to bring more than 500 people into the country, across the
Gulf of Aden.
Altogether four smugglers' boats were involved in the incident.
Two boats had offloaded their passengers and were then fired upon
by Yemeni security forces. The other two boats, which had been
waiting further offshore in the dark, capsized when they tried to
escape.
The Yemeni authorities said on Thursday they captured all 17
smugglers and their four boats.
Spindler said the UNHCR staff in Yemen had received 357
survivors of the incident. A majority of them were Somalis, and 75
were Ethiopians.
Most survivors said they were fleeing the conflict between
Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces and rival Islamists,
Spindler added.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)
