Sixty refugees found dead on beach - Yahoo! News UK
Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the latest victims of the perilous smuggling route across the Gulf of Aden had set off from the Somali port city of Bosasso, fleeing war and poverty in their homelands.
In one of two incidents that caused the deaths, smugglers tipped the refugees into the sea at night after noticing lights on land and fearing they would be spotted by the coastguard, MSF quoted survivors as saying.
"They forced us into the sea, even if the water was too deep. Several people did not know how to swim and they drowned," one survivor said.
An eight-months pregnant woman was injured by the boat's propellor after being forced overboard.
In a second incident, MSF workers discovered a group who had made it to shore after their boat capsized. They said they had buried 23 fellow passengers.
"The boat was stuck almost upside down in the sand, not far from the beach. The fishermen were trying to find survivors underneath but they could not," an MSF worker said.
"So I had to dive under. I managed to get in the hull and with God's help, we got two women and a man out safe."
Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the latest victims of the perilous smuggling route across the Gulf of Aden had set off from the Somali port city of Bosasso, fleeing war and poverty in their homelands.
In one of two incidents that caused the deaths, smugglers tipped the refugees into the sea at night after noticing lights on land and fearing they would be spotted by the coastguard, MSF quoted survivors as saying.
"They forced us into the sea, even if the water was too deep. Several people did not know how to swim and they drowned," one survivor said.
An eight-months pregnant woman was injured by the boat's propellor after being forced overboard.
In a second incident, MSF workers discovered a group who had made it to shore after their boat capsized. They said they had buried 23 fellow passengers.
"The boat was stuck almost upside down in the sand, not far from the beach. The fishermen were trying to find survivors underneath but they could not," an MSF worker said.
"So I had to dive under. I managed to get in the hull and with God's help, we got two women and a man out safe."
Comments