Children among 139 dead after boat capsizes off Djibouti, UN says

11 October 2026, 13: 05 BST. Updated 3 hours ago.

Key points

• Since 10 September, the IOM remarked its Displacement Tracking Matrix had observed more than 20, 000 "movements" from Ethiopia to Djibouti.
• The boat had been travelling from Djibouti to Yemen with 305 individuals aboard when it capsized near the port town of Obock on Thursday night.
• In March 2026, nine individuals were killed and 45 went missing after a similar incident as Thursday's.
• The conflict in Yemen has additionally displaced more than 130, 000 residents nationwide, the UN refugee agency noted last month.
• The organisation revised its toll from 109 on Sunday after 30 more bodies were recovered.

At least 139 migrants including 15 children have died and dozens more are still missing after a boat sank off the coast of Djibouti, the UN's migration office has remarked.

Meanwhile, the boat had been travelling from Djibouti to Yemen with 305 individuals aboard when it capsized near the port town of Obock on Thursday night. Around 82 individuals were rescued, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated.

IOM's Djibouti mission chief Alexandre Coissac called the tragedy a "stark reminder" of the dangers migrants face when seeking a new life elsewhere.

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa create the perilous journey each year hoping to reach Gulf countries for safety and work, the agency states.

In practice, the organisation revised its toll from 109 on Sunday after 30 more bodies were recovered.

"This is a devastating loss of life, " Coissac remarked. "Our thoughts are with the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones or remain without news of their relatives."

While the survivors – all Ethiopian nationals – have medical care readily available to them, local authorities are additionally arranging burials for those who have died.

Yemen remains engulfed in a devastating civil war that has lasted more than a decade. Despite this conflict – and growing instability throughout the wider region – migrants still cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen driven by poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change.

IOM remarked it was providing assistance to 64 of the survivors at its response centre in Obock, including healthcare and backing to "restore contact with their families".

For context, the UN agency was working in "close collaboration" with local authorities to support migrants and "prevent deaths at sea and on land", it went on.

More than 900 migrants died or went missing taking the same route in 2025, during an 18% growth in the number of residents attempting the journey, according to IOM statistics.

In practice, the conflict in Yemen has additionally displaced more than 130, 000 residents nationwide, the UN refugee agency noted last month.

Thousands of Yemenis have fled to Djibouti to escape the civil war between Houthi fighters and the Saudi-backed Yemeni administration.

Djibouti is a tiny former French colony that sits just throughout the Gulf of Aden from Yemen.

In short, children among 139 dead after boat capsizes off Djibouti, UN says is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.