Somalia Shipwreck Kills 55

A boat capsized off the coast of Somalia Thursday. At least 55 people are believed to have drowned, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR reports. The boat, which is said to have been overcrowded, wrecked soon after it left the port of Bossaso in northeast Somalia. It was carrying Somalis and Ethiopians, and was on its way to Yemen. At least five people survived, but it still ranks as the biggest loss of life in the Gulf of Aden since 57 Somali migrants drowned in February 2011. The boat’s route is a common one, used by tens of thousands of people fleeing violence and poverty on the Horn of Africa. At least 95 people have drowned or gone missing this year alone.