Thirty-eight migrants found drowned after shipwreck off Djibouti

Thirty-eight bodies, including those of children, have been found after a shipwreck off the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, the UN's International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday.

OIM : au moins 42 migrants morts au large de Djibouti le 13 avril 2021. On 9 April 2024, the IOM said another 38 drowned after a shipwreck off the Horn of Africa. © AFP

The IOM said in a post on X that at least six other people were missing and presumed dead after the "tragic shipwreck", while 22 survivors were being helped by its Djibouti office as well as the local authorities.

The Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti said the accident occurred on Monday and involved a boat that was carrying 60 Ethiopian migrants from Djibouti to Yemen.

International Organization for Migration on shipwreck off Djibouti coast:

- 38 bodies, including those of children, recovered
- 6 others are missing, while 22 survivors are being assisted by IOM and local authorities pic.twitter.com/DFUMmgX6ds

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Hundreds of thousands of African migrants each year brave the perilous "Eastern Route" across the Red Sea and through war-scarred Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia, a desperate ploy to pull their families out of grinding poverty.

The IOM's Djibouti office said on X that almost 1,000 migrants have died or gone missing on the Eastern Route since 2014.

• At least 63 migrants feared dead after boat found off Cape Verde

(With agencies)