Three Yemen fishing boats sink in Red Sea, 17 dead

At least 17 Yemeni fishermen were killed when three fishing boats sank in the Red Sea during a storm, state media and a government source said on Monday.

A government source said the men drowned near the Bab al-Mandab straits between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa state of Djibouti. The source said the accident took place several days ago.                                           

The Red Sea waters off Yemen's coast have often proved hazardous to fishermen.

Two Yemeni fishermen were killed in May by a missile fired by an anti-piracy patrol, the same month two more were killed by a mine upon landing on a Yemeni island.