At least 68 people have died after a boat carrying migrants and refugees capsized off the coast of Yemen. At least 70 more are missing. All of the dead were African nationals, Al Jazeera reported.

Abdussattar Esoev, head of the Yemen branch of the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM), told the AP news agency that the boat was carrying 154 Ethiopian nationals when it sank off the coast of Yemen's Abyan province.

He said 12 people were rescued alive from the accident. The bodies of 54 people were found in Khanfar district and another 14 bodies were recovered from another area and taken to the hospital.

The sea route between the Horn of Africa and Yemen is a common but highly risky route for refugees and migrants. The number of people fleeing the country has increased since the start of the civil war in Yemen in 2014. However, since a ceasefire agreement between the Houthi rebels and government forces in April 2022, violence has eased and the humanitarian crisis has eased somewhat.

Meanwhile, people from conflict-torn countries like Somalia and Ethiopia are taking the dangerous route to Yemen or to wealthy Gulf states. According to the IOM, it is one of the world's busiest and most dangerous migration routes. Migrants often cross the Red Sea in overcrowded boats to reach Yemen.