55 Drowned or Missing After Boat Capsized off Somalia Coast: UN

United Nations (ANTARA/Xinhua-OANA) - The UN Refugee Agency ( UNHCR) said on Thursday that 55 people have drowned or are missing after an overcrowded boat capsized off the Somali coast on Tuesday night in the biggest tragedy in the Gulf of Aden over the past two years, UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters here. "This is the biggest loss of life in the Gulf of Aden since February 2011," del Buey said at a daily news briefing here. "According to five of the survivors, the boat was overcrowded and ran into trouble almost immediately after leaving the port of Bosasso in northern Somalia," he said. "It capsized just 15 minutes into its journey, spilling all 60 passengers into sea. Those on board were Ethiopians and Somalis." To date, 23 bodies have been recovered, including those of 14 women, eight men and a boy said to be less than four years old, the UNHCR said in a statement, adding that the 32 remaining passengers are presumed drowned. "One hundred thousand people have crossed the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden this year, despite warnings from UNHCR and other aid agencies about the risks such trips involve," del Buey said. According to the UNHCR, in addition to using unseaworthy and overcrowded boats, those fleeing the Horn of Africa region often fall prey to unscrupulous smugglers, in whose hands they can face exploitation, extortion and even death.(*)