A passenger boat carrying 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen capsized near Gehere, north of Obock, on the night of October 8-9. At least 139 migrants died and another 84 are missing, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), infohub.kz reports.
The agency says the shipwreck is one of the deadliest on the Eastern Route. Of the 109 bodies recovered so far, 52 are men, 42 are women and 15 are children. All 82 survivors are Ethiopian nationals, and 64 of them are receiving treatment at the IOM center in Obock.
"No one boards a boat like this unless they are certain there is no other safe way. We cannot keep treating these deaths as something ordinary. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I urge governments to act before the next boat sinks," said IOM Director General Amy Pope.
The head of the IOM office in Djibouti, Alexandre Quassac, called what happened a "devastating loss of life."
Djiboutian authorities are continuing the search-and-rescue operation. The IOM is providing emergency assistance to the survivors at the Migration Response Center in Obock: medical care, psychosocial support, food, shelter and protection services.
The route across the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait is considered one of the most dangerous in the world. Migrants from the Horn of Africa use it to cross war-torn Yemen and find work in Saudi Arabia. In 2025, more than 900 people died or went missing on this route, while the number of crossing attempts rose by 18%. Since September 10, the IOM has recorded more than 20,000 movements from Ethiopia into Djibouti. In March, another boat capsized off Djibouti, killing nine people and leaving 45 missing.