60 missing after ship sink off Yemen's Socotra island

A total of 60 people are feared drowned after their ship capsized off the remote island of Socotra in Yemen, announced the country's ministry of fisheries on Wednesday.

The Ministry's statement said the ship went missing around 25 miles from the remote island of Socotra five days ago, as it headed from the southeastern province of Hadramout toward Socotra with 60 people on board, including children.

Fisheries Yemeni Minister Fahid Kafayen said on his official Facebook account that "four civilians were rescued by Spanish and Yemeni commercial ships that we were sailing in the area."

The Yemeni minister said that "the search operation is still ongoing and we are still looking for other survivors."

Yemen's Prime Minister Bin Dagher issued orders to form a committee to follow up on the incident and cooperate with coast guard forces to rescue the civilians.

Another source said that Yemen's internationally-backed government asked commanders of the Saudi-led Arab coalition to assist in the search operation.

source: Xinhua