Djibouti shipwreck death toll rises to 139, IOM says

The confirmed death toll from a migrant boat sinking off Djibouti has risen to 139, with 84 people still missing, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in an update on Sunday, 11 October.

The UN migration agency’s afternoon update said search and recovery efforts were continuing and that it was providing emergency assistance to survivors. Its earlier Sunday bulletin had reported 109 deaths and more than 116 people missing.

The revised figures concern a boat that capsized during the night of 8–9 October, rather than a new sinking on Sunday. The vessel had been travelling from Djibouti towards Yemen.

Reuters reported, citing IOM and survivors’ accounts, that 305 people were aboard when the boat overturned near Guhere, north of the port town of Obock. About 82 people survived. At least 15 children were among those who died.

IOM’s mission chief in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac, told the Associated Press that the recorded toll covered bodies buried by the authorities. Other reported burials would need verification before they could be added to the official count.

Coissac also told AP that survivors were being taken to IOM’s centre in Obock for medical care and psychological support. Some had been given access to phones to tell relatives they were alive.

The crossing forms part of a migration route from the Horn of Africa through Yemen towards Gulf countries. AFP reported that the 82 survivors in IOM’s updated figures were Ethiopian nationals.

The agency urged donors and partners to strengthen support for Djibouti’s response, including search-and-rescue work and emergency assistance, according to AFP.