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Symbolic image: Death toll rises to 139 after migrant boat capsizes off DjiboutiSymbolic image

Death toll rises to 139 after migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti

13 sources

At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, died when an overcrowded boat bound for Yemen sank off Djibouti, the UN migration agency said on Sunday. Another 84 people are missing.

The boat carried 305 people when it capsized north of Obock in the night of 8 to 9 October, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The agency first reported 109 dead and 116 missing, then said later on Sunday, 11 October, that 30 more bodies had been found, according to Le Monde. About 82 people survived, all Ethiopian nationals. IOM chief of mission Alexandre Coissac said survivors told him the boat began to sink backwards as soon as they boarded. Search operations continue, with IOM teams providing emergency aid alongside local authorities.

Busy route, high toll

IOM has counted more than 20,000 arrivals from Ethiopia in Djibouti since 10 September and about 178,000 between 1 January and 1 October. On the eastern route more than 900 migrants died or went missing in 2025, while the number of crossings rose 18 percent, according to IOM's Missing Migrants Project.

Calls for safe pathways

IOM Director General Amy Pope urged governments and donors to act before the next boat sinks and demanded safe, legal routes. IOM also calls for more funding for rescue operations and emergency aid in Djibouti.

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