At least two people have died and 186 are missing after four boats carrying migrants from Africa capsized in waters near Yemen and Djibouti on Thursday night, the United Nations migration agency (IOM) said on Friday.
IOM spokesman Tamim Eleian told The Associated Press that two of the boats capsized in Yemeni waters, where two of the crew members were rescued, but 181 migrants and five Yemeni crew members remain missing.
That same night, two other boats capsized in Djibouti waters, bodies of two migrants were found , while all other passengers were rescued, Eleian said.
Abdusattor Esoev, head of the IOM office in Yemen, told the media that strong winds caused the two boats that capsized off the coast of Djibouti to capsize as they began their sea journey.
The third boat, which capsized near Dhubab district in Taiz province, southwest Yemen, was carrying 31 Ethiopian migrants and three Yemeni workers.
The fourth boat, which capsized in the same area, was heading to Ahwar district in Abyan province, carrying 150 Ethiopian migrants and four Yemeni workers.
Over the past decade, at least 2,082 migrants have disappeared in the passage, of whom 693 have been confirmed dead at sea, according to the IOM. An estimated 380,000 migrants are currently stranded in Yemen.
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