Cyclone Mekunu Lost Socotra Island, 5 Killed and 40 Lost

SANAA - Five people were killed and at least 40 missing on the island of Yemen, Socotra, on Friday (25/05/2018), when Mekunu Cyclone hit the area and then headed to the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

"Five people were killed including four Yemenis and one Indian citizen," residents and medical sources said. While those missing include Yemeni, Indian and Sudanese as quoted . Saturday (26/05/2018).

Yemen declared a state of emergency on Thursday for Socotra, which lies between southern Yemen and the Horn of Africa and is renowned for its unique animal and plant life.

Much of the region that was not touched by Yemen's three-year war was under the control of an internationally-recognized government in which its president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, was in Saudi Arabia's exile.

The storms flooded the villages of Socotra and the boat overturned, leaving many islands without communication access.

The Oman Authority said it expects the typhoon to pass through Salalah town on Friday night. When the wind and rain began to hit southern Oman by noon, they extended the city's airport closure until Saturday.

Mekunu is expected to weaken into a tropical storm before it reaches southeast of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, according to the Royal Meteorological Authority.

Yemen is already wrestling with one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced three million others, triggered a cholera outbreak and pushed the impoverished nation to the brink of hunger, according to the United Nations.