![Dead bodies lay on the coast after airstrike hit a boat carrying Somali migrants who were heading to Sudan on 17 March 2017 in Yemen [Stringer/Anadolu]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017_3_17-Somali-migrants-killed-in-airstrike-off-Yemen20170317_2_22473555_19979990.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The United Nations and the government of Somalia have called for an inquiry into an aerial assault that killed 42 migrants on board a boat leaving Yemen last week. Most of the dead were Somalis who were attempting to reach Sudan.
As the military helicopter responsible for the attack approached the boat, people on board held up flashlights and shouted that they were Somali, but it did not stop the attack. Rescue workers stored the dead bodies in fish coolers because there was no space at the hospital.
Read: Somalia asks Saudi to investigate deaths of 42 Somali refugees
Officials in Yemen said that the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for the attack. On their part, Saudi officials denied responsibility and said that none of the coalition’s forces had been operating in the area.
United Nations high commissioner for refugees described the assault as “an unwarranted attack on helpless civilians fleeing violence and conflict”.