Overcrowded vessel capsizes off Djibouti, leaving dozens missing as international agencies urge expanded safe migration pathways
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died after an overcrowded vessel capsized off the northern coast of Djibouti. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed that search and recovery teams are continuing operations as dozens of individuals remain unaccounted for.
The vessel, which local monitoring reports indicate was carrying approximately 305 passengers predominantly from Ethiopia and Somalia, met with disaster off the coast near Obock while attempting to navigate the perilous maritime route toward Yemen. According to migration officials, approximately 82 survivors—all confirmed to be Ethiopian nationals—were rescued and transferred to the IOM Migrant Response Centre in Obock to receive emergency medical care, psychosocial support, and humanitarian assistance.
Recovery teams have retrieved 139 bodies from the site, comprising 52 adult males, 42 adult females, and 15 children, while an estimated 84 passengers remain missing. Humanitarian agencies note that many of those aboard were attempting the crossing following prolonged economic hardship, regional instability, and localized conflicts in the Horn of Africa, with numerous travelers having previously faced expulsion or blockades along transit corridors before making repeated attempts to cross the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
IOM Director General Amy Pope deplored the tragedy, emphasizing the urgent need for expanded safe and legal migration pathways. “We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal,” Pope stated, calling on international donors and regional governments to strengthen support for coastal search-and-rescue operations and life-saving protection mechanisms.
The disaster ranks as one of the deadliest maritime incidents recorded along the Eastern Migration Route, where over 900 migrant fatalities were documented by the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project during the preceding year. Local authorities and humanitarian agencies continue emergency tracking efforts as families await news of the missing.
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