At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying 305 people capsized near Guhere, north of Obock, while travelling from Djibouti to Yemen. IOM reported on 11 October that more than 116 others remained missing and that Djiboutian authorities were continuing search and rescue operations. The death and missing-person figures were therefore provisional totals in the agency’s update, not a final account of all those aboard.
According to survivors, the boat capsized during the night of 8–9 October. The 109 deaths reported by IOM referred to bodies recovered by the time of the release: 52 men, 42 women and 15 children, including nine girls and six boys. More than 80 people survived the shipwreck. IOM said they were all Ethiopian nationals. The release did not give a final reconciliation of the 305 people reported to have been on board.
IOM is assisting 64 survivors at its Migrant Response Centre in Obock. It listed healthcare, psychosocial assistance, protection services, temporary shelter, food assistance and help restoring contact with families among the support being provided. IOM’s Chief of Mission in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac, said its teams were on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance. He said IOM’s thoughts were with survivors and families who had lost loved ones or remained without news of relatives. He described the shipwreck as a devastating loss of life. Djiboutian authorities were also providing medical care to survivors and arranging dignified burials for those who died. The response described in the release is being carried out alongside the ongoing search and rescue operation.
The incident occurred on IOM’s Eastern Route, through which people from the Horn of Africa travel through Djibouti and cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen, often intending to reach Gulf countries. IOM said tens of thousands travel through Djibouti each year in search of safety, stability and employment. It identified poverty, insecurity and growing climate impacts as factors driving many to make the journey amid instability across the Middle East.
IOM said the crossing is one part of a route where migrants may also face violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, exploitation and trafficking after reaching Yemen. It said insecurity and humanitarian challenges in Yemen mean surviving the crossing does not necessarily mean reaching safety. The organisation’s Displacement Tracking Matrix had recorded more than 20,000 incoming movements to Djibouti from Ethiopia since 10 September.
In 2025, more than 900 migrants died or went missing along the route, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. IOM also said the number undertaking the journey rose 18 per cent that year. A separate shipwreck in March 2026 left nine people dead and 45 missing.
IOM said it works closely with Djiboutian authorities to assist migrants and prevent deaths at sea and on land. With growing needs and limited funding, it urged donors and partners to strengthen support for Djibouti’s response, specifically including search-and-rescue operations and life-saving assistance. It also called for expanded safe migration pathways as an effort to reduce risks for people making the journey.
