6 dead, 10 missing off Mayotte

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GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A small vessel capsized off Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, leaving six of the 24 people aboard dead and 10 missing, U.N. officials said Tuesday.

The maritime mishap occurred Monday, the U.N. refugee agency said in a release. The agency said it was the second such tragedy in a month. A total of 69 people are dead or missing off the coast of the French territory this year.

"The capsizing is a reminder of the risks faced by people desperate to escape poverty, conflict and persecution," Adrian Edwards, representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.

"As in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden, the seas around Mayotte are the scene of irregular movements of migrants and refugees searching for a better life or protection from persecution and war," Edwards said.