At least 139 migrants, including children, die after boat capsizes off Djibouti

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel every year through Djibouti and across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.AFP via GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleOct. 11, 2026, 10:16 AM EDT / Source: The Associated PressBy The Associated PressAt least 139 people, including children, have died after a boat carrying 305 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti in east Africa, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday.

At least 84 people remained missing in one of the deadliest shipwrecks yet on the popular but perilous crossing from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, where many migrants seek work in rich Gulf nations.

The boat was traveling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized on Thursday night or Friday morning, according to the IOM. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, it said.

Personal items likely belonging to the migrants, including shoes, were seen on a beach in a video shared by IOM. Rescue work continued as fears grew for the missing.

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel every year through Djibouti and across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait towards Gulf countries in search of safety and economic opportunities, the IOM said in its statement.

That movement has continued despite newly escalating fighting in Yemen, on the other side of the strait.

Over 900 migrants died or went missing along the route last year, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

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