55 feared killed in Somali boat tragedy

Fifty-five people were drowned, or missing and presumed to have drowned, after an overcrowded boat capsized off the Somali coast, the UN said yesterday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees quoted five of the survivors, all young Somali men, as saying the boat was overcrowded and ran into trouble almost immediately after leaving Bosasso in the northern Somali breakaway region of Puntland.

So far, 23 bodies have been recovered, including those of 14 women, eight men, and a boy said to be less than four years of age.

Reuters