11.10.2026 14:50
As a result of the sinking of a boat carrying 305 irregular migrants off the coast of Djibouti, 109 people, 15 of them children, lost their lives and 116 people went missing. While 80 people were rescued alive from the boat that had set out for Yemen, it was announced that all of the survivors were Ethiopian citizens.
A boat carrying 305 irregular migrants setting out from Djibouti to Yemen sank off Guhere, north of the city of Obock, on the night of October 8-9. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that 109 people died in the disaster and 116 were missing.
15 OF THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ARE CHILDREN
In the search and rescue operations launched after the boat sank, the bodies of 109 people were recovered. It was announced that among the dead were 15 children, 9 girls and 6 boys.
It was stated that 52 of the bodies recovered from the sea belonged to men and 42 to women.
80 PEOPLE RESCUED ALIVE
It was reported that 80 people survived the disaster and that all those rescued were Ethiopian citizens.
At IOM's Obock Migrant Response Centre, 64 survivors of the accident were provided with shelter, food, health care and psychosocial support.
It was reported that Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations to reach the 116 people missing at sea.
DEATHS ON MIGRATION ROUTE ARE INCREASING
IOM Djibouti Chief of Mission Alexandre Coissac announced that emergency relief operations were being carried out in coordination with local authorities after the disaster.
Coissac stated that the loss of life once again revealed the dangers faced by migrants trying to reach Gulf countries from the Horn of Africa.
MORE THAN 900 MIGRANTS DIED OR WENT MISSING IN 2025
According to data from the International Organization for Migration, more than 900 migrants died or went missing on the Eastern Migration Route in 2025. In another boat accident that occurred on the same route in March 2026, 9 people lost their lives and 45 went missing.