ISTANBUL

The death toll from a migrant boat disaster off Yemen’s southern coast has risen to 92, a local health official said on Wednesday, as search operations continue for those still missing.

Abdel Qader Bajameel, director of the Health Office in Abyan province, told Anadolu that the victims were migrants attempting to enter Yemen irregularly.

He said most of the bodies were recovered along the coast between the provincial capital, Zinjibar, and the Ahwar district - a stretch of roughly 120 kilometers.

Authorities have not released an updated figure on the number of people still unaccounted for.

On Sunday, a boat carrying around 200 migrants, mostly from Ethiopia, capsized off the coast of Abyan.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday reported 56 confirmed deaths and 132 people missing. Fourteen of the victims were women.

On Sunday, Abyan police said they had launched a massive operation to recover the bodies of migrants who drowned while attempting to reach Yemen aboard the doomed boat.

According to the UN agency, more than 60,000 illegal migrants have arrived in Yemen in 2024 alone.

Yemen is a common destination for hundreds of illegal migrants from the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia and Ethiopia, who undertake this perilous journey in hopes of reaching Gulf countries to seek better living conditions.