A local official and fishermen in southern Yemen announced Monday that they had recovered 25 bodies of migrants who were apparently trying to reach the war-torn country before their boat sank with about 200 people on board.

"The fishermen have recovered 25 bodies belonging to migrants," in the waters of the Ras al-Ara area in Lahj overlooking the Bab al-Mandab corridor opposite Djibouti, an official in the local authority in the southern province of Lahj, Jalil Ahmed Ali, told AFP.

He added that the boat carrying them "capped two days ago and was carrying between 160 and 200 people," without clarifying the fate of the other migrants.

One of the fishermen told AFP, "We found 25 bodies (of migrants) who drowned when a boat carrying dozens of them sank towards the Yemeni shores."

Another fisherman added, "We saw the bodies floating in the water 10 miles from the beach of Ras al-Ara."

The International Organization for Migration confirmed to AFP that a boat sank in the area, noting that it was working to collect information about the incident.

In recent months, dozens of migrants have died in the Bab al-Mandab strait that separates Djibouti from Yemen, a major route for international trade but also the scene of human trafficking.

In April, at least 42 migrants died off Djibouti after their boat, which left from Yemen, capsized, according to a report issued by the Organization for Migration.

According to the organization's statistics, 5,100 immigrants arrived in Yemen this year, while the number of these reached 35,000 in 2020 and 127,000 in 2019 before the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The organization often sends migrants back to their countries. It said in April that more than 32,000 migrants, mostly from Ethiopia, were still stranded in the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula.

The beaches of Ras al-Ara are among the areas most targeted by smugglers, and locals call it the "Gate of Hell."

Residents of the area appealed to the recognized government this month to intervene to control the situation on the ground, noting that their area is open and without supervision and has become a center for harboring migrants.