Aden, Jun 15 (IANS): The bodies of scores of migrants were recovered after their boat capsized off the waters of Yemen, a government official said.

"The boat that was carrying nearly 200 migrants on board capsized two days ago, leaving scores of bodies floating off the waters of Ras al-Ara area in the southern province of Lahj," the official told Xinhua news agency on Monday.

He confirmed that most of the migrants came from the Horn of Africa and died as a result of the accident.

Local Yemeni authorities, including the coast guards troops, are still working to retrieve more bodies, according to the official.

The region has recorded several tragic accidents as a result of overturning of overloaded smuggling boats.

In most of the cases, desperate East African migrants attempted to cross the dangerous route to reach the Middle East, mainly Saudi Arabia, via war-torn Yemen.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 5,100 immigrants have arrived in Yemen so far this year, compared to 35,000 in 2020 and 127,000 in 2019 before the coronavirus outbreak that reduced the demand for labour in Gulf states.