(JOHANNESBURG) — The U.N. migration agency says 28 bodies have been found after some 130 migrants went missing off Djibouti when two boats capsized.
A statement says the coast guard in the tiny East African nation continues a search and rescue operation after Tuesday’s accident. Witnesses said large waves caused the overloaded boats to tip over about a half-hour after departing.
The migration agency has said its team found an 18-year-old survivor who reportedly boarded a boat with another 130 people, including 16 women. There were no immediate details on the second boat.
Thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa region set off every year from Djibouti to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait for the Arabian Peninsula with hopes of finding work in rich Gulf countries.
Most of them are Ethiopian.
