Thirteen people drowned and 14 others are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Yemen, the latest tragedy on the dangerous migration route, the International Organization for Migration said today.

“Thirteen people have tragically lost their lives and 14 others are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Taiz province in Yemen on Tuesday,” IOM said.

The ship, which had departed from Djibouti, was carrying 25 migrants from Ethiopia and two Yemeni citizens.

Eleven men and two women are among the confirmed dead, while searches continue to locate the missing, including the Yemeni captain and his assistant, the same source said.

The IOM added that the cause of the wreck is not yet known.

“This latest tragedy is a tragic reminder of the dangers migrants face on this route,” said Matt Huber, head of the IOM transitional mission in Yemen.

In July a boat carrying at least 45 refugees capsized off Taiz. Only 4 survivors were found.

Every year tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa cross the Red Sea in an attempt to reach the wealthy Gulf states, fleeing conflicts, natural disasters or poverty.

The IOM recorded more than 97,200 migrants arriving in Yemen in 2023, a much higher number than the previous year.

Migrants who manage to reach Yemen face other threats to their safety in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, which has been embroiled in a civil war for nearly a decade.

Most then try to go to Saudi Arabia or other Gulf countries to work.

According to the IOM, since 2014 at least 2,082 migrants have died or gone missing on this migration route from East Africa and the Horn of Africa to the Gulf countries.