Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting between Houthi fighters and Saudi-backed forces, as the spreading Middle East war created new threats to global oil supplies, according to Reuters.

“The sea was wavy. The children were getting seasick; everyone… is not used to the sea,” said Ahmad Hassan, 70, who reached Africa in a crowded boat and gave an interview to the International Organisation for Migration.

He had fled his village after Houthi fighters arrived and it came under airstrikes: “The longer we stayed, the worse things got, the shops closed and there was no more food to buy.”

The IOM says more than 100,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the latest fighting, mostly within Yemen.