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Somalia - Mozambique

Dozens of Somali migrants die in shipwreck

Fifty-one Somali migrants died after a vessel transporting them sank off the coast of Mozambique 10 days ago, police say.

A suspected pirate ship off the coast of Somalia
A suspected pirate ship off the coast of Somalia AFP/Ministère de la Défense
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The Tanzanian-owned boat was carrying more than 100 illegal immigrants from Somalia, including Somalis and Ethiopians, when it sank.

"There were 51 deaths, 50 Somalis and the captain of the boat," police spokesperson Pedro Cossa told journalists.

The survivors have been sent to a refugee centre in Nampula, northern Mozambique, said Cossa.

Last year a boat carrying illegal immigrants from Somalia sunk off the coast of Cabo Delgado province, killing nine people.

Mozambique has seen a stream of Somali, Ethiopian, Bangladeshi, Indian and Chinese migrants landing on its soil on their way to South Africa.

Promises of a better life in South Africa, the largest economy on the continent, attract scores of immigrants every year.

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