Women, children among 24 dead in boat accident off Comoros Islands, says UN agency

At least 24 people died after their boat sank off the coast of Comoros Islands, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.

The UN agency said women, children, and infants were among the victims of the incident.

The IOM said the boat was deliberately capsized by traffickers between Anjouan and Mayotte on Friday night.

The UN agency citing survivors said the boat carried around 30 people from different nationalities, among them seven women, four minors aged six and two, and two infants.

Five survivors were rescued by fishermen on Saturday morning, according to the IOM.

The accident follows two similar tragedies in the same area in the last three months.

In September, a boat with 12 people on board including two children and an expectant mother left the coast of Anjouan and never reached Mayotte while in August eight people lost their lives in a similar incident, including a 12-year-old boy.

"Thousands of people have died on this migration route in an attempt to reach the disputed island of Mayotte, island of the archipelago of Comoros and a French department since 2011," the UN said.