Boat disaster off Djibouti leaves at least 139 dead, with toll feared to rise

At least 139 people, including children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti in east Africa, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday.

That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves but they won’t be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the AP via the phone.

“What is terrible is that they were buried with no names, in a common grave, like in a war situation,” Coissac said. “They all have a mother, a father, and we may never learn what happened.”

Coissac said the migrants boarded the ship in the evening of Oct. 8 and that it sank very soon after, close to the shore, “mainly because it was overcrowded.”

“The local authorities did their best,” Coissac said, “but they were overwhelmed with all the bodies that kept coming at once towards the shore.”

Kennedy Omondi Okoth/IOM/Handout/Reuters

He said authorities were bringing the surviving migrants to the IOM rescue center in Obock where they receive medical assistance after swallowing sea water, and psychological support.

“They’re all in a state of shock,” Coissac, who visited the area of the shipwreck Saturday, said. “I tried to talk to some of them but it’s very difficult.”

Some of the migrants in the IOM center are already aware that their family members died during the shipwreck. Others were given access to phones to call loved ones back home to notify them they are alive.

At least 84 people remained missing in one of the deadliest shipwrecks yet on the popular but perilous crossing from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, where many migrants seek work in rich Gulf nations.

The boat was traveling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized on Thursday night or Friday morning, according to the IOM. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, it said.

The Geneva-based UN migration agency said the vessel had 305 people on board and warned that the death toll could still rise.

Personal items likely belonging to the migrants, including shoes, were seen on a beach in a video shared by IOM. Rescue work continued as fears grew for the missing.

Alexandre Coissac/IOM/AP

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel every year through Djibouti and across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait towards Gulf countries in search of safety and economic opportunities, the IOM said in its statement.

That movement has continued despite newly escalating fighting in Yemen, on the other side of the strait.

“This is a devastating loss of life,” said Coissac. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities.”

In recent weeks, at least 2,000 Yemenis have received aid in Djibouti as the fighting has escalated in Yemen between the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

That’s the opposite direction from the movement of the migrants who died in the shipwreck and the typical migration patterns of recent years: The tens of thousands who cross from eastern Africa toward Yemen each year have typically been looking for work in places like Saudi Arabia.

Over 900 migrants died or went missing along the route last year, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

“No one gets into a boat like that unless they believe there is no other safe way,” IOM Director-General Amy Pope said. “We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I am asking governments and donors to act before the next boat goes down.”

国际移民组织周日表示，一艘载有 300 多名移民的船只在东非吉布提海岸附近倾覆，造成至少 139 人死亡，其中包括儿童。

这个数字只包括吉布提当局埋葬的遇难者。国际移民组织驻吉布提代表处主任亚历山大·科伊萨克通过电话告诉美联社，其他遇难者是由移民自己埋葬的，但这些遇难者要等到当局核实尸体后才会计入官方统计。

科伊萨克说：“最可怕的是，他们像战时一样，被埋葬在同一个墓穴里，而且没有名字。他们都有父母，但我们可能永远也无法得知他们究竟遭遇了什么。”

科伊萨克说，移民们于 10 月 8 日晚上登上了这艘船，之后不久，这艘船就在靠近海岸的地方沉没了，“主要是因为船上人满为患”。

科伊萨克说：“当地政府尽了最大努力，但面对不断涌向岸边的尸体，他们不堪重负。”

肯尼迪·奥蒙迪·奥科斯/国际移民组织/提供/路透社

他说，当局正在将幸存的移民送往奥博克的国际移民组织救援中心，在那里，他们吞咽海水后将接受医疗救助和心理支持。

“他们都处于惊恐状态，”周六前往沉船地点的科伊萨克说。“我试着和他们中的一些人交谈，但这非常困难。”

国际移民组织中心的一些移民已经知道他们的家人在沉船事故中丧生。另一些移民则被允许使用电话，给家乡的亲人打电话报平安。

在从非洲之角到阿拉伯半岛这条热门但危险的航线上，发生了一起迄今为止最致命的沉船事故，至少有 84 人失踪。许多移民通过这条航线前往富裕的海湾国家寻求工作。

据国际移民组织称，这艘船从吉布提驶往也门途中，于周四晚间或周五凌晨倾覆。该组织表示，80多人幸存，全部为埃塞俄比亚公民。

总部位于日内瓦的联合国移民机构表示，船上有 305 人，并警告说死亡人数可能还会上升。

国际移民组织分享的一段视频显示，海滩上发现了疑似属于移民的个人物品，包括鞋子。随着失踪人员的安危日益担忧，救援工作仍在继续。

亚历山大·科伊萨克/国际移民组织/美联社

国际移民组织在声明中表示，每年有数万名来自非洲之角的移民途经吉布提，穿过曼德海峡前往海湾国家，寻求安全和经济机会。

尽管海峡对岸的也门战事再次升级，但这一运动仍在继续。

科伊萨克说：“这是一场令人痛心的生命损失。这场悲剧再次警醒我们，移民在这条移民走廊上寻求经济机会时，面临着怎样的危险。”

最近几周，随着沙特支持的、国际公认的也门政府与伊朗支持的胡塞武装在也门境内冲突升级，至少有 2000 名也门人在吉布提获得了援助。

这与在沉船事故中丧生的移民的迁徙方向以及近年来典型的移民模式截然相反：每年从东非前往也门的数万移民通常是为了在沙特阿拉伯等地寻找工作。

据国际移民组织失踪移民项目统计，去年有超过 900 名移民在这条路线上死亡或失踪。

国际移民组织总干事艾米·波普表示：“除非确信别无他法，否则没有人会登上这样的船。我们不能再将这些死亡事件视为理所当然。安全合法的途径才能挽救生命。我呼吁各国政府和捐助方采取行动，以免下一艘船沉没。”