At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died while 84 others remain missing after an overcrowded boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti while travelling towards Yemen, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said.
The vessel was carrying 305 people, mostly Ethiopians, when it sank north of the Djiboutian town of Obock on the night of October 8 and 9, according to an IOM statement issued on Sunday.
Alexandre Coissac, the IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, told AFP that survivors reported the boat began sinking backwards shortly after they boarded it.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” Coissac said, expressing sympathy for survivors and families who had lost relatives or were still awaiting news of their loved ones.
The agency initially reported 109 deaths and 116 missing persons but later revised the figures to 139 dead and 84 missing after additional bodies were recovered.
The updated toll indicated that 82 people survived the disaster, all of them Ethiopian nationals.
Coissac said IOM teams were working alongside Djiboutian authorities to provide emergency assistance to survivors.
He described the incident as a reminder of the dangers migrants face along the migration route across the Bab al-Mandeb Strait towards Yemen, often in pursuit of economic opportunities in Gulf countries.
Coissac also disclosed that he had spoken to a survivor from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, where renewed violence has been reported amid tensions involving rebel forces and the federal government.
The IOM said poverty, insecurity and the growing effects of climate change continued to push people towards dangerous migration journeys despite mounting instability across the Middle East.
The agency warned that migrants continued to risk their lives on perilous sea crossings in search of safety and better economic prospects.
