SANAA (AFP) — Yemen said on Saturday it had recovered the bodies of 40 Somalis who drowned after being forced overboard by traffickers in the Gulf of Aden.
A further 78 people rescued from the water were receiving medical treatment in hospitals, a security official said in a statement released on the Yemeni defence ministry website.
"They will undergo treatment before being handed over to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," said Ahmed al-Muqdashi, head of security for the southern province of Abyan, adding that the search for the bodies took three days and two people were still unaccounted for.
The UNHCR estimates that more than 20,000 people have made the perilous crossing of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen this year, with at least 439 deaths and another 489 people missing.
Many of the migrants who attempt the journey are desperate to flee conflict and persecution in their home regions in Africa.
In the latest trafficking attempt of its type, Muqdashi said smugglers threw 120 people overboard 1.5 nautical miles off the Yemeni coast.
The UNHCR announced on October 23 that up to 66 people drowned after being forced overboard in the same area.
Crossing the Gulf of Aden takes two days at best and is made especially dangerous due to shark-infested waters, strong currents and inhumane conditions on poorly maintained vessels that are open to the elements.
SOURCE: AFP, November 3, 2007