GENEVA: At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, have died and around 116 remain missing after a boat carrying 305 people capsized off Djibouti, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.
The vessel sank north of the coastal town of Obock on the night of October 8-9 while travelling towards Yemen, according to survivors quoted in an IOM statement. More than 80 people survived the disaster, all of them Ethiopian nationals.
The bodies recovered included 52 men, 42 women and 15 children — nine girls and six boys.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” said Alexandre Coissac, the IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, expressing condolences to the families of those killed and concern for relatives still awaiting news of missing loved ones.
Rescue Efforts
Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations, while IOM teams are providing emergency assistance alongside local officials.
The agency said it was assisting 64 survivors at a migrant centre in Obock.
The disaster highlights the risks faced by migrants crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Horn of Africa to Yemen in search of work and opportunities in Gulf countries.
“Poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change drive many to undertake this journey,” the IOM said, despite mounting instability across the Middle East.
Dangerous Route
The IOM said 178,000 people had arrived in Djibouti from Ethiopia between January and October this year. In 2025, more than 900 migrants died or went missing along the sea route to Yemen, while the number attempting the journey rose by 18 per cent.
Another shipwreck in March 2026 left nine people dead and 45 missing, the agency said.
IOM spokesman Kennedy Omondi Okoth told AFP that most people attempting the crossing came from Ethiopia or Somalia, with many becoming stranded in Djibouti.
The agency urged donors and international partners to increase support for Djibouti, including funding for search and rescue operations and life-saving assistance.
