Migrants killed

THE UN refugee agency says 16 African migrants died and another 49 are missing presumed dead after trying to cross the Gulf of Aden in three boats.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the first smuggler’s boat capsized off Yemen’s coast because of an engine failure on Sunday.

It says most of the passengers on the vessel coming from Somalia managed to swim ashore but 43 are missing and presumed dead.

UNHCR said 10 people on a second boat died from asphyxiation in the engine room and another three were beaten to death by the smugglers. The boat reached Yemen on Sunday. Another two migrants drowned and six went missing when a third boat sank in deep waters.