Two dead and 186 missing after migrant boats capsize off Yemen and Djibouti

Two other boats capsized off the tiny African nation of Djibouti around the same time. File picture: Felipe Dana/AP Photo

The United Nations migration agency says four migrant boats have capsized in waters off Yemen and Djibouti, leaving two people dead and 186 missing.

Two of the boats capsized off Yemen on Thursday, said Tamim Eleian, a spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration.

Two crew members were rescued, but 181 migrants and five Yemeni crew members remain missing, he told The Associated Press.

Two other boats capsized off the tiny African nation of Djibouti around the same time, he said.

Two bodies of migrants were recovered, and all others on board were rescued.

According to the IOM, 558 people died in 2024 along the route used by many migrants leading from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, crossing the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.