A drone view of a rubber dinghy abandoned by migrants from Yemen and Sudan, according to Legal Centre NGO, who arrived earlier at the day to a shore near the village of Tsonia, Lesbos island, Greece June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / REUTERS
A boat capsized on Sunday, August 3, in waters off Yemen's coast, leaving 68 African migrants dead and 74 others missing, the UN's migration agency said. The tragedy was the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen that have killed hundreds of African migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in hopes of reaching the wealthy Gulf Arab countries.
The vessel, with 154 Ethiopian migrants on board, sank in the Gulf of Aden off the southern Yemeni province of Abyan early Sunday, according to Abdusattor Esoev, head of the International Organization for Migration in Yemen. He said the bodies of 54 migrants washed ashore in the district of Khanfar, and 14 others were found dead and taken to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan on Yemen's southern coast. Only 12 migrants survived the shipwreck, and the rest were missing and presumed dead, Esoev said.
In a statement, the Abyan security directorate described a massive search-and-rescue operation given the large number of dead and missing migrants. It said many dead bodies were found scattered across a wide area of the shore.
