GENEVA: Twenty people were killed and two others feared dead after smugglers forced some 115 people overboard while crossing the Gulf of Aden, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

"At least 20 people drowned off the coast of Yemen yesterday and two were reported missing after smugglers carrying them across the Gulf of Aden from the Horn of Africa forced them to jump overboard in deep water," Ron Redmond, spokesman of the UNHCR said.

The remaining 93 passengers made it to shore at Yemen, and were transferred to a reception centre, he added.

The survivors, many of whom are Ethiopians, have been reported to be "sick and exhausted from the trauma of the voyage".

Another boat carrying 55 passengers also arrived on the same day, with no casualties reported, said Redmond.

At least 380 people have been killed and 360 others feared dead this year alone after making the perilous journey in smuggling boats across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.


- AFP/so