Somali migrants 'drown off Yemen'

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Forty-five Somalian migrants drowned after their boat capsized off the coast of Yemen earlier this week, Somalian diplomats have said.

Three survivors were rescued by Yemeni fishermen after the boat capsized and were taken to the port of Mukalla.

The survivors included the boat's captain and a crew member, who have been arrested.

Hundreds of Africans drown each year, trying to reach Yemen in crowded and often unseaworthy boats.

The third of the survivors, a passenger, is being treated in hospital, officials said.

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, says as many as 50,000 - mostly Somalis - arrived illegally by boat in Yemen in 2008. Nearly 10,000 have so far made the journey this year, the agency says.