At least 139 migrants die in shipwreck off Djibouti coast; claimant: International Organization for Migration

At least 139 people are dead and 80 others are missing after a migrant boat sank off the coast of Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration. The vessel, carrying 350 people toward Yemen, capsized between the night of October 8 and the early hours of October 9 near the northern port city of Obock.

Casualties and Demographics of the Obock Shipwreck

Among the 139 bodies recovered by authorities are 15 children, consisting of nine girls and six boys. Alexandre Kusack, the IOM Djibouti special envoy, told the Associated Press that the current death toll only accounts for bodies recovered and buried by Djibouti authorities. Additional victims buried directly by migrants are not yet included in official statistics, meaning the total death toll could rise.

All approximately 80 survivors from the disaster are of Ethiopian nationality. The crossing is part of a perilous migration route across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula.

Economic Pressures Driving the Red Sea Migration Route

Thousands of African migrants attempt the maritime journey each year to reach wealthy Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia in search of safety and economic opportunities. The IOM notes that poverty, insecurity, and the worsening impacts of climate change continue to drive people onto these dangerous journeys despite ongoing instability in the Middle East.

IOM statistics indicate that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the border from Ethiopia into Djibouti in the month preceding the disaster. Throughout 2025, deaths and disappearances along the maritime route to Yemen exceeded 900, while smuggling attempts increased by 18 percent compared to the previous year. A prior shipwreck in the same waters last March resulted in nine deaths and 45 missing persons.

Calls for Safe and Legal Migration Pathways

IOM Director General Amy Pope addressed the ongoing humanitarian crisis following the disaster. If they believed there were other safe ways, nobody would board such dangerous boats, Pope said, urging that these deaths must not be brushed aside as a routine matter, and before another boat sinks, governments and donor countries must step up to establish safe and legal migration pathways.