139 migrants including 15 children dead after boat capsizes near Djibouti

At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died and around 84 are missing after a boat carrying about 305 people capsized while sailing from Djibouti to Yemen, the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.

The boat capsized near Guhere, north of Obock — a port town in Djibouti — during the night of 8–9 October, the IOM said, citing survivor accounts.

More than 80 people survived the shipwreck, all Ethiopian nationals, the statement said. A spokesperson for the Ethiopian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Among the bodies recovered after the boat capsized, 52 are men, 42 women and 15 children including nine girls and six boys, the IOM said.

"Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance," said IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac.

"This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities," Coissac said.

Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations, the IOM statement said, adding that local authorities are also providing medical care to survivors and arranging burials for the deceased.

The Djibouti government could not be immediately reached for comment.

Yemen is experiencing the most serious escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia-backed government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022. The renewed conflict could reshape control in Yemen, with implications for Red Sea shipping lanes.

IOM described the crisis sparked by the fighting as alarming, with displacement figures surging to 200,000 from 76,000 in mid-September, according to data released by the IOM last week.

More than 3,700 people have fled Yemen by sea to Djibouti as of last week, according to the IOM.

Fighting also broke out in Ethiopia last month in the biggest escalation of violence since the Tigray war.