Children among 139 dead after boat capsizes off Djibouti: UN

At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the UN's migration agency has said as per a report by the BBC on Monday.

The vessel was carrying 305 people from Djibouti to Yemen when it overturned near the port town of Obock on Thursday night. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said about 82 people were rescued, while dozens remain missing.

Alexandre Coissac, head of the IOM's mission in Djibouti, described the incident as a "stark reminder" of the risks migrants take while trying to find safety and work elsewhere.

He added: "This is a devastating loss of life."

The IOM said tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa attempt this dangerous crossing every year to reach Gulf countries.

The death toll was updated on Sunday from an earlier figure of 109, after 30 additional bodies were recovered. Local authorities are organizing burials, and the survivors — all Ethiopian nationals — are receiving medical care.

Yemen remains engulfed in a devastating civil war that has lasted more than a decade. Despite this conflict - and growing instability across the wider region - migrants still cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen driven by poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change.