At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 people capsized off the coast of Djibouti while heading to Yemen, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday. A further 84 people remain missing.
The vessel was carrying 305 passengers when it overturned near Guhere, north of the Djiboutian port town of Obock, during the night of October 8-9, according to survivors cited by the agency. Around 82 people survived, all Ethiopian nationals, while search and rescue operations continue along the coast.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” Alexandre Coissac, the IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, said. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities.”
The death toll initially stood at 109 before another 30 bodies were recovered, according to the IOM. The first confirmed victims included 52 men, 42 women, and 15 children.
The disaster occurred along the Eastern Route, a migration corridor connecting the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula. Tens of thousands of people, particularly from Ethiopia and Somalia, travel through Djibouti each year before crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen, hoping to reach Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries for work, the IOM said.
The agency noted that poverty, food and financial insecurity, and climate change continue to push people to undertake the dangerous journey. Its monitoring system recorded more than 20,000 movements from Ethiopia into Djibouti since September 10.
The latest tragedy follows another shipwreck off Djibouti in March, when nine migrants died and 45 others went missing while attempting to reach Yemen.
Migrants also face dangerous sea crossings along other routes from Africa, including across the Mediterranean to Europe. In April, Libyan authorities rescued 404 migrants from ten boats off the country’s coast, according to the Libyan Red Crescent. The passengers, who were of various nationalities, received emergency assistance after being brought ashore.
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