14 women and children die in shipwreck off Yemen

At least 14 women and children died in a shipwreck a few days ago in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, authorities said Wednesday.

The boat with around 20 people on board capsized off Hodeidah province, the Houthi rebel-run Fisheries Authority said in a statement.

The incident happened on Monday evening. Eleven women and three children died, while 11 people, including one child, managed to survive. The group was heading to a relative’s wedding on Kamaran Island when high winds and swells caused tragedy.

Coastguard vessels searched for the bodies in a channel between Kamaran and Luhiya district, the statement added.

It was the latest maritime tragedy off the coast of Yemen. Most of the early ones were African migrants fleeing wars and poverty to wealthy Persian Gulf countries in search of work.

Yemen has been in a civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels descended from their northern stronghold and took the capital, Sanaa, as well as much of the north of the country. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government.

The conflict generated one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world and caused famine in the country.