At least 109 people, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying 305 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM described it as the deadliest shipwreck off the country.
More than 116 others remain missing after the incident, which survivors reported happened near Guhere, north of Obock, during the night of 8-9 October. The boat was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen. Of the bodies recovered, 52 were men, 42 were women, and 15 were children.
More than 80 people, all Ethiopian nationals, survived the shipwreck. The IOM is providing healthcare, psychosocial support, food, and other assistance to 64 survivors at its Obock migrant response centre. Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations and providing medical care to survivors, as well as arranging burials.
Alexandre Coissac, the IOM's chief of mission in Djibouti, stated that the tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this corridor as they seek economic opportunities. The route between the Horn of Africa and the Arab peninsula is one of the busiest and most dangerous migration paths globally.