Boat capsizes off Djibouti leaving 139 dead and scores missing

At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, lost their lives when a boat carrying around 305 individuals capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the UN's migration agency. The incident occurred near Guhere, close to Djibouti's port city of Obock, during the night of October 8 to October 9. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed this information based on survivor accounts.

A total of 80 people survived the tragedy, all of whom were Ethiopian citizens. The Ethiopian government has yet to comment on the matter.

Initially, the IOM reported 109 fatalities, but this number was later revised upwards to 139 after the recovery of 30 additional bodies. Among the deceased, 52 were men, 42 were women, and 15 were children. IOM's chief of mission in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac, stated that the team is currently working alongside local authorities to offer emergency assistance. He emphasized that this incident highlights the perilous conditions migrants face during their journey in search of economic opportunities.

Djiboutian authorities are still conducting search and rescue operations, providing medical care to the survivors, and arranging burials for the victims. The tragedy follows ongoing conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, which erupted nearly four years after a peace agreement concluded a two-year civil war. The IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix indicates over 20,000 people have arrived in Djibouti from Ethiopia since September 10.

Each year, thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa seek passage through Djibouti and cross the Bab Al Mandeb strait towards Yemen, hoping to reach Gulf countries. Despite the ongoing fighting on Yemen's Red Sea coast between government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels since early September, these crossings continue. Additionally, more than 3,700 people fled the conflict in Yemen and made the journey from Yemen to Djibouti, as reported by the IOM.