GENEVA: At least 139 migrants, including at least 15 children, have died and around 84 are missing after a boat carrying more than 300 people capsized while sailing from Djibouti to Yemen, the UN International Organization for Migration said on Sunday. The boat, carrying 305 people, capsized near Guhere, north of Obock — a port town in Djibouti — during the night of Oct. 8-9, the IOM said, citing survivor accounts. Around 82 people survived the shipwreck, the statement said. Worn-out sandals and sneakers washed up on the shore. The boat, carrying 305 people, capsized near Guhere, north of Obock — a port town in Djibouti, the IOM said, citing survivor accounts. “Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance,” said IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities,” Coissac said. Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue operations, the IOM statement said, adding that local authorities are also providing medical care to survivors and arranging burials for the deceased. “Migrants are still making the perilous journeys,” the IOM statement said. Fighting has also broken out in Ethiopia since last month in the biggest escalation of violence since the 2020-2022 Tigray war. An IOM official said the UN agency had documented heavy migrant traffic along the so-called Eastern Route through Djibouti for several years. “People continue to use the route amid changing conditions in Ethiopia and Yemen, although the volume and direction of movement can shift over time,” the official said. Ethiopian migrants interviewed as part of the agency’s most recent situation report on Djibouti from Sept. 20 to Sept. 30 said they had left their country due to difficult living conditions, including the impact of drought. “Some migrants also reported that they were fleeing conflict and forced recruitment by armed forces,” the report said. Multiple residents of Tigray, where fighting erupted on Sept. 23, have said they had seen Tigrayan rebels forcibly recruit young men into the defense forces. The rebels have denied conducting forced recruitment. The conflict has sparked fears of a return to all-out war with Ethiopia and Eritrea severing relations over alleged Eritrean support for the rebel alliance seeking to overthrow Ethiopia’s government. Eritrea has denied backing the alliance. The so-called Eastern Route presents many dangers, including accidents at sea, trafficking and arbitrary arrests once on land. In 2025, more than 900 migrants died or went missing along the route, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, as the number of people undertaking the journey increased by 18 percent.