At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, died and about 116 are missing after a boat sank off Djibouti overnight on 8 and 9 October, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.
Survivors told the UN agency that the vessel, carrying 350 people from Djibouti to Yemen, capsized north of the town of Obock. The bodies recovered include 52 men, 42 women and 15 children. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, the IOM said.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” said Alexandre Coissac, the IOM chief of mission in Djibouti. He said IOM teams were working with Djiboutian authorities to provide emergency aid.
The route across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen is used by migrants hoping to reach Gulf countries.
