13 Drown Scrambling for US Navy Aid

Migrants' boat capsizes in Gulf of Aden
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 28, 2010 2:25 AM CDT
13 Drown Scrambling for US Navy Aid
A rigid-hull inflatable boat from the guided-missile destroyer USS Winston Churchill rescues passengers from a capsized skiff in the Gulf of Aden.   (AP Photo/USNavy)

At least 13 African migrants packed aboard a boat in the Gulf of Aden died after a scramble for supplies being handed out by the US Navy. The migrants' broken-down craft was being towed to the Somali shore by an inflatable boat from the USS Winston Churchill when sailors attempted to hand out food and water, say Navy officials. The migrants' boat capsized as they rushed to one side, CNN reports.

Of the 75 Ethiopians and 10 Somalis on board, 13 drowned, eight are missing, and the rest were rescued by crews from the Churchill and an Australian patrol craft. The survivors are being cared for on board the US ship. Military officials can't confirm whether the passengers on board the boat were refugees, although the area where the boat was found adrift is a common route for migrants headed to Yemen.
(More Gulf of Aden stories.)

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