| GEO World | | 100 people missing in Gulf of Aden | Updated at: 1932 PST, Friday, October 10, 2008
GENEVA: About 100 people have been reported missing in the Gulf of Aden after being forced overboard by smugglers on their way to Yemen from war-torn Somalia, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.
The latest figure brings the total number of people still missing in the Gulf to 365 so far this year.
"UNHCR and its partners are searching for about 100 people reported missing in the Gulf of Aden after being forced overboard by smugglers off the coast of Yemen," UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond told journalists.
According to the 47 survivors, out of 150 passengers who departed from the Somali port of Marera, all but 12 of the passengers were forced overboard about five kilometres (three miles) off Yemen's coast, said Redmond.
The 12 were placed in a smaller boat while the others had to swim to shore.
"Survivors said they counted a total of 47 people reaching shore, and later saw Yemeni authorities burying five bodies," said Redmond.
Some 32,000 people have arrived in Yemen this year after being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden from war-torn Somalia.
At least 230 people have died while making the perilous journey. |  |
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