(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Hundreds of American citizens and their families have fled Yemen on board Indian, Korean and Russian ships sailing from Yemen across a narrow channel of the Red Sea, only 30 kilometers (20 miles) wide, to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
Acting State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said those arriving in Djibouti had been offered food, water and medical attention as well as shelter from the heat by US embassy officials as they waited to be screened and processed.
US embassy staff had also been increased to help process applications by family members of US citizens as quickly as possible. Homeland Security "has granted exceptional authority for the consular team in Djibouti to accept and approve immigrant visa petitions for spouses, children and parents of US citizens," Harf told reporters.
US ambassador to Djibouti Tom Kelly said in a tweet Tuesday that so far 178 US citizens and 125 non-American family members had arrived in Djibouti on 12 ships and one plane.
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