BOSASO, Somalia - At least 18 Somalis drowned when their boat sank and their bodies washed ashore near the port city of Bosaso in Somalia's northern breakaway region of Puntland, a government official said on Tuesday.The Puntland official said authorities believed a boat carrying illegal Somali migrants had capsized, and that it was likely that the death toll could rise.African migrants often use unseaworthy boats to try to reach Yemen, seen as a gateway to wealthier parts of the Middle East and the West. Hundreds of the migrants have perished at sea."Today we found 18 dead bodies of Somalis on a beach 17 km away from Bosaso," Seinab Ugas Yasin, the assistant health minister in the semi-autonomous region told Reuters."The dead bodies include those of 10 women, seven men and that of a baby. We also found 5 people alive," she said.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)