Thirty-four people have been confirmed dead and 123 others still missing after two smugglers' boats carrying mainly Somali refugees capsized off the coast of Yemen, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

The UNHCR contacted the Yemeni authorities on Friday afternoon, and "can now confirm that 34 bodies have been found," said UNHCR spokesman William Spindler.

He added that most of the 123 people still missing may have been drowned. "It's difficult to say, some of them may have climbed on shore and disappeared into Yemen."

The UNHCR had said on Thursday that at least 17 people were killed and 140 missing after the incident, which took place late on Wednesday after Yemeni security forces opened fire on smugglers trying to bring more than 500 people into the country, across the Gulf of Aden.

Altogether four smugglers' boats were involved in the incident. Two boats had offloaded their passengers and were then fired upon by Yemeni security forces. The other two boats, which had been waiting further offshore in the dark, capsized when they tried to escape.

The Yemeni authorities said on Thursday they captured all 17 smugglers and their four boats.

Spindler said the UNHCR staff in Yemen had received 357 survivors of the incident. A majority of them were Somalis, and 75 were Ethiopians.

Most survivors said they were fleeing the conflict between Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces and rival Islamists, Spindler added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)