The boat capsized because of strong winds and overloading, the agency added. It said it was working with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to assist the survivors and provide protection.

In June, at least 49 migrants died and 140 went missing after their vessel, which departed from Somalia carrying 260 migrants, capsized of the Yemeni coast.

IOM, which runs a tally of migrants who are killed or go missing on migration routes, has since 2014 recorded 1 860 migrant deaths and disappearances along the route running from East Africa and the Horn of Africa to Gulf countries.

According to the UN, 97 000 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa last year.

--Reuters--