30 bodies recovered, many still missing after boats sink off coast of Djibouti

Dozens of migrants are still missing after two boats capsized near East African nation of Djibouti on Tuesday.

CNN quoted United Nations migration agency stating that by Wednesday morning the Djiboutian coast guard had recovered 30 bodies and found 16 survivors.

The local witnesses stated that the boats sank roughly 30 minutes after leaving the shore due to overloading and heavy swells. The boats sank off Godoria in the Obock region of northeastern Djibouti.

An 18-year-old survivor told the UN migration agency's staff that he had boarded one of the vessels with 130 people on it, including 16 women. The teenager further said he did not have any information about the second boat.

Search and rescue mission are still underway as dozens of people are missing. The migration agency divulged that its team was working together with the local officials to look for the survivors.

"This tragic event demonstrates the risks that vulnerable migrants face as they innocently search for better lives," Lalini Veerassamy, the migration agency's Djibouti chief of mission, said in a statement.

The drowned vessels were headed to Yemen taking an extremely dangerous route from Horn of Africa countries travelling to the Gulf of Aden in search of work.