WORLD> Middle East
Bodies of 24 migrants found on Yemen's coast
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-04 09:09

SAN'A, Yemen -- Yemen's Interior Ministry says that strong winds and high waves have washed up 24 bodies of Somali migrants on the shore.

A ministry statement says the bodies surfaced Tuesday and Wednesday along the coast near the town of al-Qasha'a.

It says another 184 Somalis involved in the same accident at sea survived and managed to swim ashore. It's not clear what kind of accident it was.

Hundreds of Africans die every year trying to reach Yemen, with many drowning or being attacked by pirates and smugglers in the dangerous waters separating Somalia and the Arabian peninsula.

The United Nations refugee agency says more than 43,500 migrants, mostly Somalis, have arrived in smuggling boats in Yemen this year.