Boat sinks off Sudan coast, 197 killed, media reports

A boat packed with refugees bound for Saudi Arabia sunk off the Sudanese coast, killing 197 people, Sudanese media linked to the government said.

Only three people were rescued, the state-linked news agency Sudanese Media Centre said, quoting officials in Port Sudan.

A fire broke out aboard the boat which was trying to smuggle people to Saudi Arabia, the agency said, adding that the dead were from Sudan's neighbouring countries. It did not say where the boat had started its journey.

Somali refugees, fleeing their war-town country, often try going to Saudi Arabia via the sea with the help of smugglers. Many end up first in the kingdom's poor southern neighbour Yemen which is closer to Somalia.