UN rights chief Volker Turk has urged countries involved in the Middle East war to help evacuate and repatriate some 6,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

“Parties to the conflict should urgently work to facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to safely evacuate and disembark, as well as ensure the delivery of critical supplies,” his spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo has told reporters in Geneva.