TWENTY THREE Somalian boat people died from thirst and hunger in a boat stranded off the coast of Yemen where they had sought refuge, a UN refugee official said. The Somalians had spent 12 days at sea when their boat broke down in the Gulf of Aden. The Yemeni coast guard was able to save 30 Somalians and 27 Ethiopians aboard the vessel, which had come from Bosasso in northeastern Somalia. In the last three years, several hundred Somalians have perished trying to cross the Gulf of Aden to work in one of the wealthy Gulf states. – AFP