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Yemen ship sinking: 35 rescued off coast | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
At least 35 of the almost 60 people who were on board a ship that sank in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Yemen have been rescued, officials say. | |
The cargo vessel disappeared about 48km (26 nautical miles) north-west of the remote island of Socotra while sailing from the eastern province of Hadramawt. | |
The government says the incident took place five days ago, but it appears that it was only confirmed on Tuesday. | |
The cause of the disaster is not clear, but a minister said it was an accident. | |
The government has asked merchant vessels and warships in the area to help search for survivors, some of whom are believed to have escaped in lifeboats. | |
Fisheries Minister Fahd Kavieen wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon that so far 35 people had been rescued. | |
He was hopeful that more could be found, but warned that the next few hours would be "very critical" and appealed for helicopter support from the Saudi-led coalition backing his government in its war against the Houthi rebel movement. | |
Earlier, Mr Kavieen was quoted by the AFP news agency as telling reporters that the ship was believed to have sunk on Friday as a result of an "accident", citing "preliminary information". The government had sent out an SOS after the sinking was confirmed on Tuesday, he added. | |
But the Aden al-Ghad news website quoted a source in the coastguard as saying he had received a notice from authorities in Hadramawt on Tuesday night that contact with the ship had been lost several hours after it set sail from Mukalla. | |
Socotra, which is home to about 50,000 people, is about 350km (190 nautical miles) south of Yemen and 240km (130 nautical miles) east of Somalia. | Socotra, which is home to about 50,000 people, is about 350km (190 nautical miles) south of Yemen and 240km (130 nautical miles) east of Somalia. |
Flights between the Yemeni mainland and the island were suspended in March 2015, when the conflict between the government and the Houthis escalated and the Saudi-led coalition closed the country's airspace and began carrying out air strikes. | |
There are no regular ferries, forcing islanders to seek passage on cargo vessels. | There are no regular ferries, forcing islanders to seek passage on cargo vessels. |
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