A shipwreck off Yemen has killed 56 migrants and left 132 missing, U.N. says in revised figures
It is the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen that killed hundreds trying to reach wealthy Arab Gulf countries in the hope of a better life.
The vessel had 200 people on board when it sank early on Sunday (August 3, 2025) off the coastal town of Shuqrah in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement. Authorities recovered 56 bodies, including 14 women, while 12 men were rescued as of Tuesday morning, the agency said.
An operation to find those missing is underway, Abyan security directorate said on late Monday (August 4, 2025), adding that the body of the boat captain, a Yemeni citizen, was recovered among 14 others off Zinjibar, the provincial capital.
'This heartbreaking incident highlights the urgent need to address the dangers of irregular migration along the Eastern Route,' the IOM said.
Initially, Abdusattor Esoev, IOM chief in Yemen, said on Sunday the boat carried 154 Ethiopian migrants, with 68 killed and 74 missing.
In its Tuesday statement, IOM said more than 350 migrants died or went missing in shipwrecks so far this year along the Eastern Route, which migrants from the Horn of Africa use to reach Yemen. The actual figure is likely to be significantly higher, it said.
Yemen has been a major transit point for African migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty. Smugglers often take them on dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.
Tens of thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, despite being one of the poorest Arab countries and mired in a civil war for more than a decade.
More than 60,000 migrants arrived there in 2024, according to the IOM.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
11 hours ago
- Mint
African architects have cool designs for a warming planet
The first thing you notice, stepping from the scorching Sahelian sun into the laterite-stone dome, is how cold it is. There is no air-conditioning, just shade and natural ventilation; nor is there plaster. Diebedo Francis Kere, the architect behind the new mausoleum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, strives to use only what can be sourced nearby. 'I'm a construction-material opportunist," he says. 'I look around at what is most abundant, and how people use it, and try to do something new." The result is a building so austere, low-tech and elegant that it is like entering a temple of the ancient world. In 2022 Mr Kere became the first black architect to win the prestigious Pritzker prize (considered architecture's equivalent of the Nobel). He is the best known of a cohort of African architects whose ideas are at the profession's cutting edge. In particular, they are showing how to build sustainably for a warming, changing planet; what's more, they are doing so on the cheap. At a time when African-made music, art and TV is crossing into the global cultural mainstream, the continent's architecture and design are becoming increasingly influential, too. For a long time, ideas flowed the other way. Since the 1950s, many of the most important public buildings in Africa have been modernist in style and monumental in scale. The 'tropical modernism" of the post-war era—a style inspired by the radical functionality of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-born architect—was a way for newly independent African states to assert themselves on the world stage, says Tosin Oshinowo, a Nigerian architect. But the architects behind these buildings, who mostly did not come from Africa, often used materials unsuited to local climates, such as concrete (which can crack and blister in humidity) and plate-glass (which can make buildings oppressively hot inside). Shiny buildings still have appeal: some African elites 'want something that they've seen in the global north or Dubai", says Kunle Adeyemi, another Nigerian architect. This can lead to staid uniformity at best and cheap mimicry at worst. In Ethiopia, for instance, the historic heart of Addis Ababa, the capital, is currently being demolished to make way for bland, identikit high-rises implanted from the Gulf. Mr Kere and his peers point to another way. They draw inspiration from the immediate and familiar rather than styles and materials imported from elsewhere. The rustic appearance of the John Randle Centre (JRC), a museum which opened in Lagos last year, aims to evoke the mud rendering used for centuries by the Yoruba, one of Nigeria's largest ethnic groups. Seun Oduwole, who designed the JRC, says too many new buildings in Lagos are 'white boxes divorced from their surroundings". He aims to create edifices that are in harmony with 'nature and the physical environment". Down to earth So, too, does Sumayya Vally, a South African architect who has drawn on the cooling systems of termite mounds in her recent designs. And Mariam Issoufou, from Niger, created an angular design for the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre in Liberia based on traditional palava huts, whose roofs divert the heavy rains common in the country. She was shortlisted for the prestigious Aga Khan award in 2022. Mr Kere was influenced by Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso's former president, who preached national self-reliance. (The mausoleum is part of a memorial for Sankara, who was assassinated on the site in 1987.) In design terms, this means making canny choices. Mr Kere uses clay-earth bricks, which can cost between 20% and 70% less than the concrete equivalents. These architects' ideas are finding a wide audience. In 2023, at the previous edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, perhaps the industry's most important event, more than half the participants were from Africa and the diaspora. Mr Kere has taught at Harvard and Yale. 'This is a unique moment," says Martino Stierli of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 'We have this incredibly exciting generation of African architects who have built locally, but are having an impact globally." That is evident in the commissions being won by African architects. Mr Kere's first major project in America is the Las Vegas Museum of Art, which is expected to open in 2028; it will take inspiration from the nearby Nevada desert. Ms Vally is designing a bridge in Belgium which will nod to traditional Congolese riverboats. As urban planners contemplate the future as well as construction's present impact on the climate, they are looking to the continent's materials and methods. (Consider that cement manufacturing accounts for around 8% of global CO2 emissions.) Mr Adeyemi has won international recognition for his 'water cities": floating settlements designed in response to land scarcity in fast-growing metropolises such as Lagos as well as rising sea levels. Design innovations pioneered in Africa are catching on elsewhere. The 'passive cooling" techniques of the kind used in the mausoleum are increasingly common in hot countries around the world. Western architects such as David Chipperfield, who won the Pritzker in 2023, are utilising the same sustainable building materials, such as rammed earth and clay. Mr Kere says such approaches were often scorned as 'backwards" when he was growing up in Burkina Faso in the 1970s and 80s. Now, more than ever, they are the future. For more coverage of climate change, sign up for the Climate Issue, our fortnightly subscriber-only newsletter, or visit our climate-change hub.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
A shipwreck off Yemen has killed 56 migrants and left 132 missing, U.N. says in revised figures
A boat carrying African migrants that capsized over the weekend off the coast of war-torn Yemen killed 56 and left 132 missing, the U.N. immigration agency said on Tuesday (August 6, 2025), revising casualty figures released earlier. It is the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen that killed hundreds trying to reach wealthy Arab Gulf countries in the hope of a better life. The vessel had 200 people on board when it sank early on Sunday (August 3, 2025) off the coastal town of Shuqrah in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement. Authorities recovered 56 bodies, including 14 women, while 12 men were rescued as of Tuesday morning, the agency said. An operation to find those missing is underway, Abyan security directorate said on late Monday (August 4, 2025), adding that the body of the boat captain, a Yemeni citizen, was recovered among 14 others off Zinjibar, the provincial capital. 'This heartbreaking incident highlights the urgent need to address the dangers of irregular migration along the Eastern Route,' the IOM said. Initially, Abdusattor Esoev, IOM chief in Yemen, said on Sunday the boat carried 154 Ethiopian migrants, with 68 killed and 74 missing. In its Tuesday statement, IOM said more than 350 migrants died or went missing in shipwrecks so far this year along the Eastern Route, which migrants from the Horn of Africa use to reach Yemen. The actual figure is likely to be significantly higher, it said. Yemen has been a major transit point for African migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty. Smugglers often take them on dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden. Tens of thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, despite being one of the poorest Arab countries and mired in a civil war for more than a decade. More than 60,000 migrants arrived there in 2024, according to the IOM.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Collapse of 400-year-old baobab on outskirts of Hyderabad sparks alarm
Hyderabad: A 400-year-old baobab tree, part of a rare and historic cluster in the Chingi Cherla forest on Hyderabad's outskirts, has collapsed, triggering alarm among environmentalists and tree lovers. Thought to have been planted by African settlers more than four centuries ago, the ancient tree is believed to have succumbed to a severe pest infestation. Only three baobabs now remain in the cluster, which are located within 50 metres of one another. 'One of them has a girth of over 20 metres,' said Salman K, a local who last visited the tree in November 2024. 'At that time, I noticed a minor infestation on a few branches, some of which had already fallen. I never imagined the damage would spread so drastically. Seeing the collapsed tree was heartbreaking,' he added. Another concern highlighted by environmentalists is the dense plantation under the baobabs. Under the Yadadri Model Plantation scheme implemented in 2021–22, more than 10,000 saplings, including banyan, karanji, raavi, and others, were planted across the forest with just one-metre spacing. A rusted plantation board still stands nearby, listing 22 species planted under the CAMPA scheme. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 15 Most Beautiful Female Athletes in the World Click Here Undo You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad 'But these heritage trees are now in serious jeopardy. The real issue is the uncontrolled plantation activity near them. These saplings are encroaching on the baobabs' root zone,' said Uday Krishna, an environmentalist who documented the tree through his initiative, The Big Tree Quest. 'Baobabs have shallow roots and wide canopies. Fast-growing species like banyan and karanji compete for essential resources like space, water, and sunlight. This weakens the older baobabs, making them more susceptible to perish, but they can live up to 1000 years if maintained,' he added. 'I've only seen such a dense baobab grouping once before, in Savannur, Karnataka,' he added. Today, fewer than 20 baobabs are thought to survive in the Deccan region. The Chingi Cherla cluster is believed to be the only naturally occurring group of baobabs in India, making its preservation all the more vital. Environmentalists are now calling on the Telangana Forest Department to urgently remove the encroaching saplings, treat pest infections, and formally protect the area as a heritage grove. 'We have inspected the site. The fall was due to natural decay. We have also initiated fresh regeneration at the location,' said an official from the forest department. 'There was a proposal to develop a park around the area a few years ago, but it didn't materialise. As for conservation, regular monitoring is being done. These are old trees, and aging is a factor, but we are taking all necessary precautions.'
