NAIROBI, Kenya: At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died and around 84 remain missing after a boat carrying 305 people capsized off the coast of Djibouti while traveling towards Yemen, the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

The boat overturned near Guhere, north of the port town of Obock, during the night of October 8-9, according to the IOM, which cited survivor accounts. Around 82 people survived the disaster.

Photographs released by the UN agency showed worn-out sandals and trainers washed up along the shore.

IOM teams are working with local authorities to provide emergency help to survivors, said Alexandre Coissac, the agency's chief of mission in Djibouti.

"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. They are also providing medical treatment to survivors and arranging burials for those who died, the IOM said.

The migrants were traveling towards Yemen, hoping eventually to reach wealthier Gulf countries in search of better economic opportunities.

However, Yemen is facing a renewed escalation in fighting between government forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi movement. The latest violence marks the most serious increase in fighting since a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022.

Despite the conflict, migrants continue to make the dangerous journey towards the Gulf, the IOM said.

The UN agency has monitored heavy migrant traffic along the so-called Eastern Route through Djibouti for several years. An IOM official told Reuters that people continued to use the route despite changing conditions in Ethiopia and Yemen, although the number of travelers and the direction of their journeys could change over time.

Conflict, Drought Drive Migration

Fighting has also intensified in Ethiopia since last month, marking the biggest escalation in violence since the 2020-2022 Tigray war.

According to the IOM's latest situation report on Djibouti, covering September 20-30, Ethiopian migrants said they had left their country because of difficult living conditions, including the effects of drought.

Some also reported fleeing conflict and forced recruitment by armed groups, the report said.

Several residents of Ethiopia's Tigray region, where fighting broke out on September 23, told Reuters they had seen Tigrayan rebels forcibly recruiting young men into defense forces. The rebels have denied carrying out forced recruitment.

The Eastern Route is dangerous, with migrants facing the risk of shipwrecks, human trafficking and arbitrary arrests after reaching land.

More than 900 migrants died or went missing along the route in 2025, according to the IOM's Missing Migrants Project. The number of people attempting the journey increased by 18 percent that year.

The latest disaster adds to growing concerns about the risks people face when traveling from the Horn of Africa toward the Middle East in search of work and safety.

The IOM has also warned that the humanitarian crisis caused by fighting in Yemen is worsening. The number of people displaced by the conflict has risen sharply to 200,000 from 76,000 in mid-September, according to figures the agency released last week.

More than 3,700 people had also fled Yemen by sea to Djibouti by last week, the IOM said.