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A ship carrying more than 60 people, including women and children, sank off Yemen's Socotra island, with state media reporting that only two people had been rescued.

The boat went missing five days ago while heading from Yemen's southeastern port city of Mukalla towards Socotra with some 60 people on board, Yemeni fisheries minister, Fahad Kaffen said on Wednesday.

Socotra lies in the Indian Ocean closer to the coast of Somalia than the Yemeni mainland.

The government's sabanew.net reported that two ships, one Austrian, one Australian, had rescued two of those on board.

It did not specify whether the vessels were merchant ships or part of an international flotilla that has been fighting piracy off the Somali coast.

Through the devastating conflict that has pitted forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against the Houthi rebels and their allies over the past few years, Socotra has remained loyal to his Saudi-backed government throughout.

The Mukalla-based governor of Hadramawt province, Major General Ahmed bin Breik, said a call for help had been issued to the Saudi-led coalition backing Hadi's government to help search for those still missing.

Agencies contributed to this report