GENEVA, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - More than two dozen people died when smugglers shipping them across the Gulf of Aden forced them overboard off the coast of Yemen and around 20 bodies are missing, the UN refugee agency said Wednesday.

At least 26 people died in the incident on September 8 which saw about 120 people forced overboard in deep water at gunpoint, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement, citing survivors.