DJIBOUTI: At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, have died and another 116 remain missing after a boat carrying 305 people capsized off Djibouti on the night of October 8–9, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.
According to the UN agency, survivors said the vessel was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen when it overturned north of the coastal town of Obock. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals.
The bodies recovered included 52 men, 42 women and 15 children — nine girls and six boys. The IOM said it was assisting 64 survivors at a migrant centre in Obock, while Djiboutian authorities continued search and rescue operations.
IOM chief of mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac described the incident as a devastating loss of life and said agency teams were working alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance.
The agency said migrants continued to undertake the dangerous sea journey across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in search of economic opportunities in Yemen and Gulf countries, despite risks linked to poverty, insecurity and climate change.
According to the IOM, around 178,000 people 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 increased by 18 per cent.
Another shipwreck in March 2026 left nine people dead and 45 missing, the agency said. The IOM has urged donors and partners to strengthen support for Djibouti’s search and rescue operations and emergency assistance for migrants.