At least 139 migrants die in shipwreck off Djibouti while crossing to Yemen

An overcrowded vessel carrying 305 people, most of them Ethiopian migrants, capsized off the Djiboutian coast near the town of Obock on the night of 8-9 October while attempting the crossing to Yemen, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN agency reported on 11 October that at least 139 people had died, including 15 children, and that 84 others remained missing. The death toll was revised upwards from an earlier figure of 109 dead and 116 missing as more bodies were recovered.

Eighty-two people, all Ethiopian nationals, survived the wreck. According to survivors' accounts, the boat began to sink backwards immediately after people boarded. Alexandre Coissac, the IOM's chief of mission in Djibouti, described the incident as "a devastating loss of life."

IOM teams collaborated with Djiboutian authorities to provide emergency assistance to survivors. Coissac emphasized that the tragedy highlighted the dangers faced by migrants attempting to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait toward Yemen and onward to Gulf states seeking economic opportunity. He noted that poverty, insecurity and the effects of climate change continue to drive large numbers of people along this migration corridor, despite the significant risks involved.