Death toll is 25 after boats carrying Somali migrants capsized, Madagascar officials say

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar —  The death toll rose Monday to 25 after two motorboats carrying migrants from Somalia capsized in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, authorities said Monday.

The migrants had been at sea for nearly a month hoping to reach the French island territory of Mayotte.

An additional 48 people were rescued Sunday from the waters near the island of Nosy Be off northern Madagascar, said Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, the head of Madagascar’s Maritime Ports Agency.

Somali authorities said Sunday that 24 people had died. It was not clear what caused the boats to capsize.

The boats left a beach near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Nov. 2 with 73 people on board and were believed to be headed to Mayotte, Randrianantenaina said. Mayotte is about 990 miles from Mogadishu.

The survivors are age 17 to 50, authorities in Madagascar said.

Randrianantenaina said an investigation was underway, while a government delegation from Somalia will come to organize the repatriation of its citizens. Madagascar’s foreign ministry has asked the U.N. International Organization for Migration for help.

Many young Somalis embark every year on dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities abroad. The U.N agency has previously raised concerns over the rise in irregular migration from Horn of Africa countries as people flee from conflict and drought.

In April, 38 migrants died and 22 others were rescued from a shipwreck off Djibouti on a popular migration route to Yemen. Most of those rescued were Somali and Ethiopian nationals seeking work in Gulf states.