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At least 139 migrants died after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti earlier this week, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday, with 84 others still missing.
The vessel had been carrying 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen when it sank near Guhere, north of the town of Obock, per the IOM. The incident occurred on the night of 8 to 9 October.
The death toll climbed from 109 after 30 more bodies were recovered. Among the 109 bodies initially recovered, 52 were men, 42 were women, and 15 were children, including nine girls and six boys, the IOM said in an earlier statement, adding that more than 80 people had survived the shipwreck – all Ethiopian nationals.
“This is a devastating loss of life. Our thoughts are with the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones or remain without news of their relatives,” Alexandre Coissac, the IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, said. “Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance. This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities.”
Search and rescue operations are ongoing, and the IOM and local authorities are providing assistance to survivors.
According to the IOM, tens of thousands of migrants travel from the Horn of Africa through Djibouti each year as they look to cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen and eventually reach the Gulf countries.
“Poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change drive many to undertake this journey, despite mounting instability across the Middle East,” the IOM said.
In March, another shipwreck off the coast of Djibouti left nine migrants dead and 45 others missing as they attempted to make the crossing to Yemen.
“Since 10 September, more than 20,000 incoming movements to Djibouti from Ethiopia have been observed by IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix,” the IOM added on Sunday.