MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Rescuers searched Thursday for dozens of migrants from Africa who are still missing after smugglers apparently forced them off two boats in the Red Sea off Djibouti earlier this week, the Djiboutian coast guard said.
It was previously reported that at least 48 people had drowned. The boats had left Yemen across the Red Sea on the Arabian Peninsula with 310 people on board, the International Organization for Migration said.
It was not known why the migrants were driven from the boats while still at sea.
Initially the IOM said the two boats carrying migrants had capsized, but later made no mention of this, saying instead that the smugglers forced people off the boats and told them to swim.
Djibouti’s coast guard said the tragedy occurred about 150 meters from a beach in the east African country’s northwestern Khor Angar region. It said 115 survivors had been rescued.
Moktar Abdi, a member of the Djiboutian coast guard, told The Associated Press by telephone on Thursday that the search was now focusing on deep-sea areas and nearby beaches. He said the Coast Guard would provide an update later on the number of bodies recovered.
On Wednesday, the IOM said 111 people were still missing, while the Djiboutian coast guard put the number at 61.
“One woman drowned, but her four-month-old child survived along with 98 others from the first boat,” said the UN agency, which assisted in search and rescue efforts.
Thousands of migrants from African, Middle Eastern and South Asian countries seeking a better life in Europe attempt irregular migration every year. Smugglers pack ships full of desperate people willing to risk their lives to reach continental Europe.
Yemen has been mired in civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country’s north, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition of mainly Arab states entered the conflict the following year to support government forces.
In recent years, the war has largely stalled along established front lines, while efforts to reach a negotiated solution have stalled.
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