UN refugee body: 11 drown, 34 missing off Somalia

[February 10, 2012]  GENEVA (AP) -- The U.N. refugee agency says at least 11 people have drowned and 34 are missing after a smuggling boat headed for Yemen capsized off the coast of Somalia this week.

A spokesman for the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says survivors reported their boat carrying 3 smugglers and 58 passengers was adrift without power for five days before overturning Wednesday in rough seas.

Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva on Friday survivors claimed that smugglers forced 22 passengers overboard when the engines failed shortly after the boat set sail Saturday.

Thousands of Africans try to cross the Gulf of Aden each year in the hopes of finding refuge in Yemen.

[Associated Press]

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