Victims of Djibouti migrant boat tragedy recovered

The Djiboutian Coast Guard on Wednesday has been retrieving bodies of migrants who drowned off the coast of the Horn of Africa.

Two vessels carrying migrants sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Djibouti, killing 45 people, the U.N. migration agency said Tuesday.

Dozens are still missing.

The International Organization for Migration in Djibouti is supporting state emergency services in search and rescue operations for missing persons.

They said that so far, 55 people have been rescued and are receiving medical and psychosocial support.

The migrants said they were forced off their vessel in open sea by smugglers.

The boats had departed from Yemen carrying 310 people, the IOM said.

Thousands of migrants from African, Middle Eastern and South Asian countries seeking a better life in Europe attempt irregular migration every year.

Smugglers pack vessels full of desperate people willing to risk their lives to reach continental Europe.

Djibouti’s coast guard said the tragedy struck some 150 meters (about 500 feet) off a beach near the northwest Khor Angar region.