At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died after a migrant boat capsized on Thursday night off the coast of Djibouti en route to Yemen.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that 82 people, all Ethiopians, survived while another 84 people are still missing.
A humanitarian response coordinator for the UN agency, Safiya Ibrahim, said the boat capsized off the port town of Obock.
“On board were women and men, but also children. The provisional toll is particularly heavy,” she said.
“Survivors told me that the boat started to sink backwards as soon as they got in it,” the IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac said.
Coissac said; “Our thoughts are with the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones or remain without news of their relatives.”
Personal items, likely belonging to those on the boat, were seen on a beach as search and rescue operations continued.
The IOM says it is providing assistance to the survivors, including healthcare and help in contacting their families.
Coissac said the tragedy is a “stark reminder” of the dangers migrants face while seeking a new life elsewhere.
He said one survivor told him they came from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where rebels are battling the federal government in a recent flare-up of violence.
Yemen remains engulfed in a devastating civil war but despite the conflict, and growing instability across the wider region, migrants still cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The UN agency said tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa make the perilous journey each year hoping to reach Gulf countries for safety and work.
African News
