IOM reports 139 dead, 84 missing in Djibouti shipwreck

The International Organization for Migration said Sunday that 139 people had died and 84 remained missing after a migrant boat capsized off Djibouti while traveling to Yemen. The agency revised its earlier toll after additional bodies were recovered; search-and-rescue operations continued. The vessel was carrying 305 people and overturned near Guhere, north of the port town of Obock, during the night of October 8-9, the IOM said, citing survivors. More than 80 people survived, all Ethiopian nationals. The agency said it was assisting 64 survivors at its centre in Obock. The IOM’s updated count rose from 109 dead and 116 missing to 139 dead and 84 missing. The agency said the 139 deaths counted people buried by Djiboutian authorities. Alexandre Coissac, the IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, said bodies buried by migrants themselves would not be included until authorities could verify them. The final death toll could therefore change as verification proceeds. Djiboutian authorities were continuing search and recovery work, while IOM teams provided emergency assistance to survivors.