GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says a small boat has capsized off the coast of East Africa, killing at least six people and leaving 10 others missing. Agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says six people are confirmed drowned in the Indian Ocean off the French territory of Mayotte. Edwards told reporters Tuesday in Geneva the small open vessel known as a "kwassa-kwassa" was carrying 24 people when it capsized early Monday. Edwards says refugees and migrant workers have used the small boats for decades to sail from Comoros and other African nations to more prosperous Mayotte. He says the deaths bring to 69 people the number of people killed or missing off Mayotte this year and is "a reminder of the risks faced by people desperate to escape poverty, conflict and persecution."
