ADEN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - At least 37 Somalis were drowned off Yemen while trying to cross from Somalia to the Arab country, the official Yemeni news agency Saba said on Thursday.

The agency quoted a Yemeni official as saying the captain of the vessel carrying the migrants ordered them to try to swim ashore on Wednesday. About 70 were rescued, it said.

Many African migrants try to reach Yemen, which they see as a gateway to other parts of the Middle East, and the West. (Reporting by Mohamed Mokhashaf; writing by Firouz Sedarat; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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