At least 21 people have died after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the UN’s migration agency has said.
It was the second fatal maritime accident in two weeks off the Horn of Africa nation, which lies on the perilous so-called eastern migration route from Africa to the Middle East.
Another vessel carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants sank in the same area on 8 April, claiming the lives of several dozen people.
Tanja Pacifico, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) chief of mission in Djibouti, told AFP in Nairobi that 21 bodies had been recovered, while 23 people were still missing.
Another 33 people survived the disaster, she said late on Tuesday.
“Tragedy as boat capsizes off Djibouti coast with 77 migrants on board including children,” the IOM had said in an earlier post on X, giving a toll of at least 16 dead and 28 missing.
The accident occurred about two weeks after another boat carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants sank off the Djibouti coast, claiming several dozen lives.
“Tragedy as boat capsizes off Djibouti coast with 77 migrants on board including children,” the IOM said in a post on X, without specifying when the latest incident occurred.
“At least 28 missing. 16 dead,” it said, adding that the local IOM branch was “supporting local authorities with search and rescue effort.”
It was the latest deadly accident on the so-called Eastern Migration Route.
Another boat carrying more than 60 people sank off the coast of Godoria in the northeast of Djibouti on April 8, according to the IOM and the Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti.
The IOM said at the time the bodies of 38 migrants, including children, were recovered, while another six people were missing.
The embassy in Djibouti said the boat was carrying Ethiopian migrants from Djibouti to war-torn Yemen.
Each year, many tens of thousands of African migrants brave the perilous “Eastern Route” across the Red Sea and through war-scarred Yemen, escaping conflict or natural disaster, or seeking better economic opportunities.
