At least 139 migrants dead and 84 missing after boat capsizes off Djibouti, says IOM

11 October 2026

The UN migration agency (IOM) said on 11 October 2026 that at least 139 migrants had died after their boat capsized off Djibouti, with 84 people still missing. The toll rose from 109 after the bodies of 30 more people were recovered. The boat was carrying 305 people from Djibouti towards Yemen when it went down near Guehere, north of Obock. About 82 people survived. IOM described it as one of the deadliest shipwrecks recorded on the Eastern Route, which runs from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. IOM Director General Amy Pope called for safe and legal migration pathways.