At least 139 people died and 84 were still missing after a boat carrying 305 migrants from Djibouti toward Yemen capsized off the Djiboutian coast, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on October 11, calling it one of the deadliest shipwrecks recorded on the route between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

The boat went down near Guehere, north of Obock, during the night of October 8 to 9, according to IOM. About 82 people survived. The death toll rose from 109 after the bodies of 30 more people were recovered, and search and rescue efforts were continuing, UN News reported.

In its first statement on the disaster, issued earlier on October 11, IOM said the bodies recovered at that point were those of 52 men, 42 women and 15 children, nine girls and six boys, and that more than 116 people were missing. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, the agency said, adding that it was assisting 64 survivors at its Migrant Response Centre in Obock while Djiboutian authorities continued search and rescue operations.

“This is a devastating loss of life,” said Alexandre Coissac, IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, who called the shipwreck “a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor.” IOM said it was providing survivors with healthcare, psychosocial support, food, shelter and protection services.

The route, which IOM calls the Eastern Route, has a record of deadly crossings. More than 900 migrants died or went missing along it in 2025, according to the agency’s Missing Migrants Project.

Movement in both directions

The shipwreck came as Djibouti dealt with traffic into and out of Yemen, where fighting has returned to full scale. Since September 10, IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix has recorded more than 20,000 movements into Djibouti from Ethiopia, as migrants keep heading for the Gulf, UN News reported. Over roughly the same period, more than 3,700 refugees arrived from Yemen and 539 Ethiopian migrants came back from there.

Coissac told journalists in Geneva on October 6 that the country faced “overlapping emergencies.” “Djibouti is therefore confronting movements in both directions,” he said, adding that more than 3,000 stranded migrants were seen along routes in Djibouti between September 20 and 30, often without access to basic services.

IOM figures released on October 12 show the scale of the flow. About 134,100 migrants entered Yemen in 2026 through the end of September, 22% more than in all of 2025, when the total was 110,144, and more than double the 2024 figure of 60,897. In September alone, 11,841 migrants entered Yemen, including more than 2,500 through Taiz, the agency said. Most people on the route come from the Horn of Africa and aim to reach Gulf countries for work, and many face conflict, exploitation and abuse along the way, according to IOM.

Why it matters

The deaths underline the risks for people who continue to travel toward a country at war. IOM said many migrants on the route become stranded without money or a safe way home, while at the same time Yemenis fleeing the fighting are arriving in Djibouti. IOM Director General Amy Pope linked the disaster to the lack of legal options:

“No one gets into a boat like that unless they believe there is no other safe way. We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I am asking governments and donors to act before the next boat goes down.”

Jose Barahona, the UN resident coordinator in Djibouti, said he was deeply saddened by the loss of at least 139 lives, among them children. “Our thoughts are with the victims, the survivors and the families waiting for news of their loved ones,” he said on social media. In its October 12 statement, IOM urged countries along the route to cooperate against smugglers and open safe and regular pathways, and called on donors to increase funding. “We need safer options, and we need them now,” Pope said.

What to watch

Search and recovery operations by Djiboutian authorities were continuing as of October 11, with 84 people unaccounted for. IOM has called for more donor support for its work with survivors and migrants along the corridor.

The caveats

The casualty figures are IOM’s and were revised during October 11 as more bodies were recovered; they may change again. IOM reported the nationality of the survivors but not of all those on board, and the agency’s statements did not give a cause for the capsizing.

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