The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said at least six other people were missing and presumed dead, and that 22 survivors were being assisted by the IOM and local authorities.

Yvonne Ndege, regional spokesman for the IOM, said the shipwreck happened about 200m off Djibouti and that the boat carrying the migrants had left Yemen around 2am local time on April 8.

It sank about two hours later with around 66 people on board, predominantly from the Horn of Africa region.

They were believed to be mostly Ethiopian nationals, she said.

“Every year tens of thousands of migrants leave the Horn of Africa, mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia trying to reach the Gulf nations,” Ndege said.

“(But) thousands are stuck in Yemen. It’s rational to conclude that the group of migrants who perished in this tragedy were trying to return to Djibouti to buy time and try again later or return home.”