The crew said they had been trying to fix a leak discovered after the boat left the Somali port of Mareer, near Bosasso, three days earlier.

Eyewitnesses aboard the rescuing craft said they had seen the boat sinking and heard the passengers shouting for help.

But the second vessel was carrying more than 90 people, and was able to pick up only the crew of the sinking ship.

Hundreds of people have died at sea since Somalia's civil war began in 1991.

Many Somalis try to reach Yemen, either to settle in refugee camps there or to travel on to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.

Last year, 86 people were drowned when a boat sank on its way from Bosasso to Yemen.