At least 139 migrants died when a boat capsized off Djibouti, the IOM says. Another 84 are missing..
OBOCK, Djibouti – At least 139 migrants have died and 84 others are missing after a boat carrying 305 people capsized off Djibouti, the International Organization for Migration said. About 82 people survived. The boat was traveling from Djibouti toward Yemen when it went down near Guehere, north of the port town of Obock, in the early hours of Friday, according to the agency.
The toll has risen sharply since the first IOM reports. The agency said on Sunday that 109 people had died, including 15 children, and that more than 116 were missing. After 30 more bodies were recovered, it raised the death toll to 139 and lowered the number of missing to 84. Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and recovery operations, and the IOM has called it the deadliest shipwreck off Djibouti.
The IOM is assisting 64 survivors at its Migrant Response Centre in Obock with health care, psychosocial support, food, shelter and protection services, and with efforts to restore contact with their families. The agency said funding is limited and urged donors to strengthen support for Djibouti’s response, including search and rescue.
The route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen is one of the world’s busiest migration corridors. The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project recorded more than 900 deaths or disappearances along it in 2025, when the number of journeys rose by 18%. A shipwreck in March 2026 left nine dead and 45 missing. The agency’s tracking has also logged more than 20,000 incoming migrant movements from Ethiopia into Djibouti since Sept. 10, while refugees fleeing the conflict in Yemen are arriving in the opposite direction.
This report draws on information from the International Organization for Migration, UN News, the Ghanaian Times and Open Magazine.