Yemeni passenger ship with 64 passengers on board sinks

The fate of the passengers and cause of the accident is unclear. Yemen’s government has requested rescue help from the Saudi-led coalition.

A passenger ship carrying more than 60 people sank in the Indian Ocean off Yemen’s Socotra Island, the war ravaged country’s fisheries minister said Wednesday.

Rescue ships managed to save at least two people from the ship, which was sailing from the Hadramout provincial capital, Mukalla to Socotra Island with 64 passengers on board. The government’s sabanew.net reported that an Austrian and Australian flagged ship were involved in the rescue.

Yemeni Fisheries Minister Fahad Kaffen urged the Saudi-led military coalition supporting the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to help in search and rescue efforts.

Mukalla and Socotra Island are in the hands of Hadi’s government, which is battling an alliance of Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in control of the capital Sanaa and large swaths of the north.

It is unclear what caused the ship to sink or what happened to the rest of the passengers.