At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have perished and 84 others remain missing after an overcrowded vessel sank en route from Djibouti to Yemen, the United Nations migration agency reported Sunday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated the boat was carrying 305 people—mostly Ethiopian nationals—when it capsized north of the Djiboutian town of Obock during the night of October 8-9.
“Survivors told me that the boat started to sink backwards as soon as they got in it,” said Alexandre Coissac, IOM chief of mission in Djibouti.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” Coissac added in the agency’s statement.
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