At Least 139 Dead After Migrant Boat Capsizes Off Djibouti
At least 139 people, including children, died when a boat carrying 305 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). At least 84 people remained missing, and the agency said the death toll could rise as search and recovery work continued near Guhere.
The reported toll includes only people buried by Djiboutian authorities. Other victims were buried by migrants, but those deaths will not be added to the official count until authorities verify the bodies, IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac, said. He said the boat sank shortly after passengers boarded on October 8, mainly because it was overcrowded.
The vessel was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, according to IOM. Authorities were taking survivors to the agency’s rescue centre in Obock for medical care and psychological support. Coissac said some survivors knew relatives had died, while others were given phones to tell family members they were alive.
The crossing forms part of a route used by tens of thousands of people travelling each year from the Horn of Africa toward the Arabian Peninsula. Many hope to find work in Gulf countries. IOM said more than 900 migrants died or went missing along the route last year. The latest sinking is among the deadliest reported on the crossing.
The movement toward Yemen has continued despite escalating fighting there. In recent weeks, at least 2,000 Yemenis travelling in the opposite direction received aid in Djibouti, according to IOM. The agency’s director general, Amy Pope, called for safer, legal migration routes and urged governments and donors to act. Recovery efforts continued as authorities worked to establish the identities of those who died and determine the fate of those still missing.