DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Rescue operations are ongoing to find dozens more missing, local authorities say.At least 54 African refugees and migrants have died and dozens remain missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Yemen, according to health authorities in Abyan governorate in the south of the country.Abdul Qader Bajamil, director of the health office in Zanzibar, said on Sunday that rescue teams had recovered 54 bodies from the beaches there and surrounding areas, while 12 survivors were transferred to Shaqra Hospital.The boat carrying around 150 people, mostly from Ethiopia, capsized in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Shaqra, in the Abyan governorate, due to strong winds on Saturday evening.Bajamil noted that authorities were making arrangements to bury the victims in an area near the city, while search operations continued amid difficult conditions.The waterways between Yemen and the Horn of Africa are a common but perilous route for refugees and migrants travelling in both directions. The area saw a spike in Yemenis fleeing the country after the civil war broke out in 2014.Houthi rebels and government forces reached a truce deal in April 2022 that has resulted in a decrease in violence and the slight easing of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.Meanwhile, some of those fleeing conflict in Africa, particularly in Somalia and Ethiopia, have sought refuge in Yemen or have sought to travel through the country to the more prosperous Gulf countries. The route remains one of the “busiest and most perilous” migration routes in the world …
