Dakar, Apr. 23, (dpa/GNA) – Dozens of people are feared dead after a migrant boat carrying 77 occupants overturned off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations.

So far, 16 people have been confirmed dead and at least 28 people are missing in the incident, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

Children were also among the passengers on the vessel, the IOM said. It gave no further details as it assisted authorities of the East African country with the rescue work.

Almost two weeks ago, at least 38 people lost their lives near Djibouti after a wooden boat loaded with 66 passengers filled with water and capsized around 200 metres off the coast.

The IOM said this was one of the deadliest boat accidents off the country to date. The occupants, mainly people from neighbouring Ethiopia, were on their way back from Yemen, almost 30 kilometres away at the narrowest point of the strait between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. 

According to IOM figures, around 100,000 people, almost half of them women and children, made the dangerous journey across the coast from Djibouti to Yemen in 2023. GNA