Twenty-four Ethiopians, trying to illegally enter Yemen, on Monday drowned near the port city of Mocha in Yemen’s central province of Taizz, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
It added on its website that the bodies of the 24 illegal migrants were found off the coast of Mocha.
The ministry said the Ethiopian migrants were on board of a boat that brought them from their country, noting that efforts were still being made to locate survivors and identify the drowned victims.
Ethiopian authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.
Earlier this month, security agencies said 70 Ethiopian migrants drowned after their boat sank off the coast of Mocha city as well.
Thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel to Yemen and beyond each year in search for a better life, after undertaking risky journeys to escape conflict, poverty and recurrent droughts.