At Least 139 Migrants Die as Boat Capsizes Off Djibouti

DJIBOUTI, Oct. 12 — At least 139 people died and 84 remained missing after an overcrowded boat carrying roughly 305 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti, United Nations agencies reported.

Most of the passengers were Ethiopians attempting the dangerous crossing toward Yemen as part of the long-standing migration route from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. The vessel sank on the Red Sea route. Search and rescue operations recovered bodies and survivors, but the full toll is not yet final. Local authorities and international organisations continued operations into Monday.

The route has seen repeated incidents in recent years as conflict, economic pressure and climate stress push people from Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea toward Gulf labour markets. Smugglers frequently overload wooden or fibreglass boats that are not designed for open-sea conditions. Rough weather and night departures increase the risk of capsizing.

Djibouti has hosted transit points for years. Its coastal waters sit along one of the busiest and most hazardous segments of the eastern migration corridor. Previous sinkings have produced death tolls in the dozens; the current figure ranks among the higher single-incident losses on this route.

UN agencies have called for improved search capacity and for measures that reduce reliance on irregular crossings. Survivors who reached shore described overcrowding and inadequate life-saving equipment. Bodies recovered were taken to local facilities for identification, a process complicated by the lack of documents carried by many travellers.

The incident occurs against the backdrop of wider instability in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, where commercial shipping has already faced attacks linked to the Yemen conflict. Those security conditions have not directly caused the migrant sinkings, yet they have reduced the presence of larger vessels that might otherwise assist in rescues.

Families in Ethiopia and elsewhere await confirmation of relatives' fates. Identification efforts rely on DNA where possible and on testimony from survivors. The final missing count may rise or fall as more bodies are recovered or additional survivors are located along the coast.

The deaths underscore the persistent risks on a route that has claimed thousands of lives over the past decade. Without changes in origin-country conditions or in the availability of legal pathways, further overloaded departures are likely to continue.